Stocks, Commodities Fall as China Growth Slows Yen Gains

Stocks dropped and commodities fell to a nine-month low after China’s economic growth unexpectedly slowed in the first quarter. U.S. equity-index futures declined, while the yen strengthened.

The MSCI All-Country World Index slid 0.5 percent at 9:55 a.m. in London, with the Shanghai Composite Index capping a 10 percent retreat from this year’s peak. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.5 percent. The S& P GSCI gauge of 24 raw materials dropped 1.2 percent, led by gold and silver, which dropped more than 6 percent. Oil sank below $90 a barrel and copper retreated to an eight-month low. Japan’s currency appreciated for a third day against the dollar, advancing 0.3 percent to 98.09.

China’s economic growth lost momentum as factory output weakened last month, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing. A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York may show manufacturing in the region expanded for a third month in April. Citigroup Inc. and Charles Schwab Corp. are scheduled to report earnings today.

“China’s data are confirming the underlying concern about its economic outlook,” said Koji Toda, the chief fund manager at Resona Bank Ltd. in Tokyo, which oversees about 15 trillion yen ($153 billion). “Profit-taking is dominating the market as it seems like the yen won’t weaken beyond 100 per dollar soon.”

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.9 percent as a gauge of basic-resources producers slid to the lowest level since October 2011. Randgold Resources Ltd., a miner of the precious metal in West Africa, and Kazakhmys Plc, Kazakhstan’s biggest copper producer, lost more than 6 percent in London trading.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ina-gdp-report

China's economic growth slows to 7.7%

Falling factory output and investment hit first-quarter GDP growth – down from 7.9% but still above Beijing's 7.5% target

Stocks extend losses on China GDP growth miss

CHINA's economic recovery stumbled unexpectedly in the first three months of 2013, forcing analysts to start slashing full-year forecasts despite official insistence that the outlook was favourable.

The world's second-biggest economy grew 7.7% in the first quarter from a year ago, slower than the 7.9% hit in the fourth quarter of 2012, below the Reuters consensus forecast of 8% and confounding expectations of a surprise uptick that emerged after surging credit and export data were published last week.

Sheng Laiyun, a spokesman at the National Bureau of Statistics, which released GDP in a flurry of other data on Monday, said: " China's economic fundamentals haven't changed. We are confident about future growth and optimistic about achieving this year's growth target." China has set a 7.5% GDP growth target for 2013, a level Beijing believes will create sufficient jobs while providing room to deliver structural reforms the government – and international policy advisers – believe are necessary to put growth on a more sustainable long-term footing.

" Employment is very stable," Sheng said. " Stable employment is a basic indicator of China's economic stability," he added, quoting ministry of labour and social securities data showing that China created more than 3m new jobs in the first quarter.

Commodities from crude oil to copper, wheat and corn all fell after the data, share prices were knocked lower and the Australian dollar slid as investors repriced expectations of import demand from China.