China business activity recovering thanks to "credit-soaked" quarter - CBB Survey

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

The quarterly private survey of thousands of Chinese firms by China Beige Book International (CBB) pointed to an unexpected upturn in the Chinese business conditions following the disappointing Q4 growth outlook that re-ignited China slowdown fears.

CBB said in a statement: “Credit is surprisingly expensive... Credit costs need to be further stabilized or the current rally will falter.”

“Even traditionally disadvantaged firms in the credit markets are no longer so - at least for a quarter: private firm borrowing outpaced state-owned enterprises in the first quarter.”

“Along with a growing list of government support measures, signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks may also have been a factor behind the improvement in business confidence.”

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

EUR/USD deflates to fresh lows, targets 1.1600

The selling pressure on EUR/USD now gathers extra pace, prompting the pair to hit fresh multi-week lows in the 1.1625-1.1620 band on Friday. The continuation of the downward bias comes in response to further gains in the US Dollar as market participants continue to assess the mixed release of US Nonfarm Payrolls in December.

GBP/USD breaks below 1.3400, challenges the 200-day SMA

GBP/USD remains under heavy fire and retreats for the fourth consecutive day on Friday. Indeed, Cable suffers the strong performance of the Greenback, intensified post-mixed NFP, and trades at shouting distance from its critical 200-day SMA near 1.3380.

Gold flirts with yearly tops around $4,500

Gold keeps its positive bias on Friday, adding to Thursday’s advance and challenging yearly highs in the $4,500 region per troy ounce. The risk-off sentiment favours the yellow metal despite the firmer tone in the Greenback and rising US Treasury yields.