Data Crush Chinese Recovery Hopes?

FT's Market Questions guide you for the upcoming week. In this week's release, the guide has predicted the Bank of England's interest rate and asset purchase decision. There will also be a European Central Bank policy meeting. Furthermore, the guide forecasts the United States of America's inflation rate and consumer sentiment index. These predictions will enable readers to make better decisions.

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Chinese Trade Numbers: Will They Continue To Underwhelm?

China's trade data for last month is predicted to reveal a drop in import and export volumes. This news does not bode well for investors, who are keeping a close eye on China's post-Covid 10 reopening progress.

Imports may decrease by 7.9% in May. This was predicted by a survey from Reuters. They dropped by a lot in April too. The survey also predicts a 0.6% reduction in exports compared to last year. However, April exports spiked by 8.5% from a low starting point.

Consumer spending and industrial output figures were weak. The trade data was also underwhelming. This is causing concern among investors. They are worried that the expected increase in Chinese demand may not be as big as anticipated.

At the beginning of the year, traders invested a lot in Chinese stocks and expected commodity prices to increase like in the US.

Investor sentiment has turned negative recently. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell into bear market territory, dropping 20% below its January peak. Copper and iron ore prices have also been steadily declining since January.

from Goldman Sachs thinks that China is recovering okay, but some things like the property market, young people finding jobs, and people's confidence in spending money might need extra help from the government.

Can Eurozone Maintain Consumer Trust?

Prices have been high and wages have been low for more than a year. The eurozone consumer has been affected. However, sales data to be published on Tuesday is expected to show a small improvement in April compared to March.

Eurozone retail sales may increase by 0.1% next month, say economists in a Reuters poll. Sales dropped by 0.4% in Q1 but are predicted to recover.

Recently released data shows that retail sales in Germany went up by 0.8% in April. This was largely due to the increase in food sales. An economist from Oxford Economics has stated that there is very little chance for a substantial improvement until real wages go up later this year.

Europe's consumer confidence has improved from a low point during the previous year's energy crisis. However, the confidence level remains lower than the normal long-term average. May saw a slight increase in confidence, according to the EU's survey.

European retailers are feeling worse, according to a survey. Their current and past business conditions are getting worse, and they are worried about having too much inventory in stock. This has resulted in a more gloomy outlook for retailers. Martin Arnold reported this information.

Can US Tech Giants Reach A New Peak?

People are excited about generative artificial intelligence. Because of this excitement, US tech stocks are almost at their highest point in 2021.

Big US tech companies in the S&P 500 Info Tech sub-index increased by 1/3 this year. They are just 5% away from their peak in December 2021.

Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia are the biggest winners in the stock market. Nvidia entered the $1tn club last month thanks to increased sales forecasts for AI. The chipmaker has gained over 170% this year.

The S&P tech index might break new records soon. People who think AI companies are starting a new bull market would be happy about this. But some fund managers might get worried because they're relying too much on expensive, popular companies.

Megacap tech groups with AI links are dominating the S&P 500. Only a few sub-indices have recorded gains this year. Amazon, Alphabet, and Facebook are doing well. Amazon is a big part of consumer discretionary while Alphabet and Facebook own more than half of communication services. Jennifer Hughes wrote this.