Why China’s Retail Sales Strengthened in November 2017
On a year-over-year basis, China’s retail sales strengthened in November 2017, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics of China.
Dec. 27 2017, Updated 11:50 a.m. ET
China’s retail sales in November
On a year-over-year basis, China’s retail sales strengthened in November 2017, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics of China. On a yearly basis, retail sales rose 10.2% in November 2017 compared to a 10% rise in October 2017. However, it was marginally below the market expectation of a 10.3% rise.
Sector-by-sector performance
In November 2017, building material sales rose 3.6%, furniture sales rose 11.9%, home appliance sales rose 8.4%, and telecommunications sales rose 33.9%. Oil and oil products sales rose 10.4%, personal care sales rose 7.9%, automobile sales rose 4.2%, and cosmetics sales rose 21.4%. The telecommunications sector had the strongest sales growth that month.
Economic impact
China’s economy (FXI) (YINN) is going through a transitional phase, from a manufacturing hub to a consumption-based economy. Improvement in retail sales could bode well for China’s economy (ASHR) and for various corporations.
The iShares MSCI China (MCHI), which tracks the performance of China, rose 1.4% in November 2017. The iShares China Large-Cap (FXI), which tracks the performance of China’s large-cap stocks, rose 0.5% that month.
In the next part of this series, we’ll look at the indicators investors should watch this week.
