MNI BRIEF: China April CPI Slides, PPI Dips Further

China's Consumer Price Index registered a 0.1% y/y increase in April, lower than the market consensus of 0.3% y/y growth and down from March’s 0.7% y/y, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.

The high-base effect, as well as sufficient supplies of fresh goods and falling fuel prices, drove the decline.

Food costs increased 0.4% y/y in April, down from March's 2.4% y/y growth. Among the components, poultry prices and fruit prices made the biggest two contributions by 6.7% y/y and 5.3% y/y. Pork prices, the main CPI driver, rose 4.0% y/y. Food costs contributed 0.07pp to CPI.

Service prices increased 1.0% y/y, up from the 0.8% y/y in March, due to soaring airfares and tourism costs, the NBS said. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.7% y/y in April, the same growth noted in March. On a monthly basis, CPI fell 0.1% m/m compared to March's 0.3% m/m decline.

The producer price index declined by 3.6% y/y from March's 2.5% y/y drop, according to the NBS. The reading missed the market consensus of a 3.3% y/y decline. PPI decreased 0.5% m/m due to fluctuated international commodity prices, together with weaker demand from overseas and domestic markets, the NBS said.