MNI BRIEF: China Jan CPI Quickens To Five-Month High
China's Consumer Price Index rose 0.5% y/y in January, growing at the fastest pace in five months from December's 0.1% and beating an expectation of 0.4%, though weakness in factory-gate inflation persisted, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Sunday.
The 1.1% y/y rise in service prices, led by tickets of movie and performances as well as airlines, have buoyed the headline CPI by 0.42 percentage points. A 0.4% gain in food prices also helped lift CPI by 0.07 pps, reversing the 0.09 pps drag in December. CPI grew 0.7% m/m, improving from December’s 0.0%.
PPI declined 2.3% y/y, the same as December, marking the 28th consecutive negative read, also missing the market consensus of a 2.2% fall. PPI fell 0.2% m/m, expanding from December's 0.1% decline, as industrial production was in off-season due to Spring Festival.