China economy shows muted improvement during holiday period – Bloomberg

Bloomberg came out with analysis suggesting few signs of improvement in Chinese economy despite its second month without Covid Zero curbs. The research, however, marks the Lunar New Year (LNY) holiday season as marking a lid on some activities.

Bloomberg’s aggregate index of eight early indicators showed a slight uptick in activity in January, versus a contraction in December, reported Bloomberg.

Key findings

Early signs showed a rise in activity as more than 300 million trips were made during the holiday, nearly 90% of pre-pandemic levels, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 

Box office figures topped the last year’s holiday season while restaurant revenue rallied around 25% during the festival period from a year ago.

Other indicators weren’t as positive, either as business activity slowed during the Lunar New Year season or as the global economy continued to struggle.

Confidence among small businesses was better in January than in December, with real estate, transport, accommodation and catering activity seeing a sharp rebound, according to Standard Chartered Plc.

Bloomberg Economics generates the overall activity reading by aggregating a three-month weighted average of the monthly changes of eight indicators, which are based on business surveys or market prices.

AUD/USD pares intraday gains

The news seems to weigh on the market sentiment and exerts downside pressure on the AUD/USD prices holding lower grounds near intraday bottom near 0.7085 by the press time.

Also read: AUD/USD Price Analysis: Refreshes day’s low below 0.7100 amid risk-off mood