MNI DATA IMPACT: China April CPI Rises To 6-month High

     BEIJING (MNI) - China's CPI rose to 2.5% y/y in April, edging up from

March's 2.3% to hit a six-month high. An MNI survey of economists had projected

the headline number to come in at 2.6%. 

     Here are other points of note from the data released by the National Bureau

of Statistics on Thursday:

     --The y/y CPI gain was partly due to higher food prices which rose 6.1%

y/y. The price of pork continued to rise, accelerating to 14.4% y/y, compared

with March's 5.1% gain.

     --CPI rose 0.1% m/m in April, reversing the 0.4% m/m decline in March. Food

prices fell 0.1% m/m compared with a 0.9% decline in March, as rising pork, eggs

and fruit prices were offset by declining vegetable prices. Prices of non-food

items rose 0.1% m/m.

     - The producer price index (PPI) rose 0.9% y/y, up from March's 0.4%,

beating the 0.6% forecast in an MNI survey and hitting a four-month high. It

rose 0.3% monthly, compared with 0.1% m/m gain in March.

     - The ex-factory prices of oil and gas exploration as well as oil, coal and

other fuel processing saw less gains at 3.6% and 1.3% on a monthly basis,

contracting 2.0 and 1.0 percentage points. Car manufacturing again reported no

price changes, as in March.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: wanxia.lin@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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