China and Emerging Markets

A brief look at important company events and economic data releases next week.

The once low average Chinese wage, which allowed China to build a dominant export industry, has begun to catch up.

Wall Street was mixed last night, masking decent moves up in commodity-based stocks as pressure begins to rebuild for the US dollar. Dow up 2. (Locked for subscribers until 10:00 AEDST)

Global manufacturing data met US takeover activity, Greek bail-out plans and an increasingly worried UK last night. Dow up 78.

HSBC’s monthly gauge for China manufacturers has signalled activity is slowing down for the sector.

Less export orders have resulted in a negative surprise in the release of the official Chinese PMI for February.

Wall Street panicked last night over double-dip fears ahead of an afternoon recovery. Dow down 53. (Locked for subscribers until 10:00 AEDST)

China has stepped up sales of US Treasury bonds in recent months and it is feared political retribution may be intended at a time when the US desperately needs foreign funding.

The euro turned tail and ran away again last night but more positive US data prevented a stock market reversal. Dow up 40.

A second increase to Chinese bank reserve requirements in a month is seen as aggressive by economists, with interest rate hikes next.