Benzinga | Mar 13, 2014 10:34AM ET
Asian markets pared gains after Chinese data came in below estimates on Thursday morning.
The nation’s industrial output grew 8.6 percent in January and February, below analysts’ expectations of a 9.5 percent rise. Retail sales data also disappointed, with an 11.8 percent increase. The figure indicated the nation’s slowest growth since 2004 and was far below the 13.5 percent estimate.
Addressing the public on Thursday, China’s Premier Li Keqiang admitted that 2014 was plagued by more difficulties than last year, but that the nation’s government plans to keep economic growth within a reasonable range. Although he didn’t give any specific figures, the nation’s government has set a 7.5 percent growth target for the year.
In other news around the markets:
Asian markets recovered modestly on Thursday, but disappointing Chinese data weighed on gains. The Japanese NIKKEI lost 0.10 percent, the Shanghai composite was up 1.07 percent, the Shenzhen composite gained 1.18 percent and the Hang Seng index was down 0.67 percent.
European markets also improved; the UK’s FTSE gained 0.03 percent and the eurozone’s STOXX 600 was up 0.15 percent. The German DAX gained 0.23 percent, France’s CAC 40 was up 0.17 percent, and Italy’s MIB rose 0.31 percent.
Energy futures improved; Brent futures were up 0.21 percent and WTI futures gained 0.11 percent. Gold gained 0.15 percent and silver was up 2.59 percent. Industrial metals were mostly higher with copper and aluminum both up 0.46 percent, but zinc lost 0.80 percent.
The euro continued to climb and gained 0.30 percent on the dollar and the pound rose 0.23 percent against the greenback. The dollar lost 0.90 percent to the Australian dollar and 0.25 percent to the Japanese yen.
Notable earnings released on Wednesday included:
Stocks moving in the Premarket included:
Notable earnings releases expected on Thursday include:
Economics
Chinese data will be the star of Thursday’s economic calendars with the nation set to release retail sales and industrial production data. Other notable economic releases include US retail sales, Japanese industrial production, Brazilian retail sales, and French CPI.
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