China’s central bank cut key interest rates on Tuesday.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) cut the rate on 401 billion yuan worth of one year medium-term lending facility (MLF) to some financial institutions by 0.15% to 2.5%.

Meanwhile the PBOC also injected 204 billion yuan through seven-day reverse repos while cutting borrowing costs by 0.1% to 1.8%.

 

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  China’s July home prices down
 

More Chinese cities saw home prices fall in July while new home prices fell for the first time this year, official data showed on Wednesday.

On a monthly basis, new home prices edged up 0.4% and 0.2% in Beijing and Shanghai respectively while prices fell 0.2% in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Prices of new homes dropped 0.2% and 0.3% in July compared to June in China’s second and third tier cities respectively.

Existing home prices saw the biggest decline in first tier cities as prices in the four biggest Chinese cities fell 0.8% in July from June’s drop of 0.7%.

 

China’s fixed asset investment growth slowed in the first seven months of the year, official data showed on Tuesday.

Investment in fixed asset grew 3.4% in the first seven month of 2023, slower than a 3.8% in the first half of the year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Investment in the property sector fell 8.5% year on year in the first seven months of the years.

In July alone, investment in fixed asset fell 0.02% from June.

China’s retail sales of consumer goods rose 2.5% in July from a year ago according to official data released on Tuesday.

July’s growth was slower than June’s expansion of 3.1%.

In the January to July period, retail sales grew 7.3% from the same period last year.

Catering grew 15.8% in July, slower than June’s growth of 16.1%.

 

Hong Kong’s population rose 2.1% to 7,498,100 from mid-2022 to mid-2023, according to statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department on Tuesday.

The population increase was largely driven by the gradual relaxation of pandemic control measures since the second half of 2022 and the resumption of travel between Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world.

“Many Hong Kong residents who stayed abroad during the epidemic have returned to Hong Kong, while some Mainland and overseas persons have also been admitted to Hong Kong through various schemes,” a spokesperson for the Hong Kong government said in a statement. 

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Japan’s Q2 economy expands 6%

 

 

 

Japan’s economy grew 6% in the second quarter from the same period last year, official data showed on Tuesday.

Exports rose 3.2% in the second quarter driven by car exports and inbound tourism, while private consumption fell 0.5% quarter on quarter.

Japan’s economy grew 1.5% quarter on quarter in April-June. 
 

Canada’s inflation rose at an annualised rate of 3.3% in July, official data showed on Tuesday.

Inflation

Inflation edged up in July as gasoline prices fell less dramatically in July compared to June.

Excluding gasoline, the consumer prices index rose 4.1%, up from 4% in June, Statistics Canada said in a statement.

 

July 2023 has been the hottest month on record as the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA confirmed.

July 2023 was 0.24 degrees Celsius warmer than any other July in NASA’S record, NASA said in a statement.

And according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, July was estimated to have been around 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial average for 1850-1900.

 

The Netherlands has entered a recession as its economy shrank for a second quarter in a roll.

The Dutch economy fell 0.3% on a quarterly basis in the second quarter after a 0.4% contraction in the first three months of the year. 

The contraction was mainly due to falling exports and lower household consumption, according to Statistics Netherlands.

 

Russia’s central bank hiked interest rates by 3.5 percentage points on Tuesday in an effort to prop up the ruble and fight inflation.

The raise brought Russia’s key interest rate from 8.5% to 12%.

The Bank of Russia held an emergency meeting on Monday as the ruble fell past 100 to the dollar.

The Russian central bank said the decision was to limit price stability risks as inflation pressure is building up.