European Stocks Mixed Despite Strong Chinese GDP Data

Date: 18 January 2021 - 21:18

News ID: ۸۶۶۶۸

BRUSSELS (Dispatches) - European stock markets were mixed on Monday despite new data showing China’s economy was growing at a faster rate than it had prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fourth quarter Chinese GDP data published showed the world’s second largest economy grew by 6.5% at the end of 2020. The growth was faster than pre-pandemic levels of expansion and was slightly better than economists had expected. It means China’s economy grew by 2.3% across 2020 as a whole, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
"This makes China the only major economy across the globe which avoided contraction last year,” said Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank.
The data helped Chinese stock markets outperform regional peers. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.8%, the Shenzen Component rallied 1.6%, and the Hong Kong Hang Seng rose 1%.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei fell 1%, South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 2.3%, and Australia’s ASX 200 slid 0.8%.
Stocks opened lower in Europe before paring back early losses. The FTSE 100 down 0.2% in London by early afternoon, while the DAX was up 0.1%, and the CAC 40 was down 0.2%.
Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at SpreadEx, said investors were concerned by weaker-than-expected Chinese retail sales figures. Retail sales grew by 4.6% in December, which was well below forecasts and a deceleration on the prior month.