MNI BRIEF: China March CPI Lower Than Market Expectation
China's Consumer Price Index ran behind market expectation, gaining 0.1% y/y in March, lower than the previous 0.7% y/y increase and underperforming the market consensus of 0.4%, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.
Falling food and transportation services prices drove March's print, the NBS said. Pork prices, a main CPI driver, declined 2.4% y/y, compared with last 0.2% y/y increase. Services prices gained 0.8% y/y, led by declining tourism and air travel prices. CPI fell 1.0% on a monthly basis, led by food prices, which was impacted by sufficient supply.
The PPI declined for the 18th straight month by 2.8% y/y, in line with the market consensus but dipping further from February's 2.7% y/y. PPI fell 0.1% from a month earlier, narrowing from last month's 0.2% m/m decrease, as industrial products were relatively sufficiently supplied along with the resumption of the production after the holiday, according to NBS.