China’s GDP contracts 6.8% YoY in Q1 vs. -6.5% expected, AUD/USD little changed

China’s GDP arrives at -6.8% YoY in Q1, meets expectations.
China’s March Retail Sales disappoint, Industrial Production beat estimates.
AUD/USD pays little heed to the mixed Chinese data dump.

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

China's economy contracted sharply in the first quarter due to the coronavirus outbreak led economic disruptions, the official data released at 02:00 GMT showed.

The economy marked its first quarterly decline on record in the first three months of 2020.

The annualized first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) came in at -6.8%, missing the forecasted print of -6.5% and down from the previous quarter's GDP of +6.0%.

Inter-quarter, China’s GDP arrived at -9.8% in Q1 vs. -9.9% expected and +1.5% previous.

China’s March Retail Sales YoY, the number arrived at -15.8% vs. -10.0% expected and -20.5% last, with Industrial Output YoY at -1.1% and -7.3% expected and -13.5% last.

Meanwhile, Fixed Asset Investment YoY stood at -16.1% in March vs. -15.1% expected and -24.5% last.

AUD/USD reaction

AUD/USD pays little heed to downbeat China's Q1 GDP and mixed activity numbers for March, as it holds the higher ground near 0.6375 region, helped by broad-based US dollar weakness and the upbeat market mood.

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.

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