Factories across the globe slammed on the brakes last month as demand crashed, hit by the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, slowing global growth and ...
LONDON/TOKYO: Factories across the globe slammed on the brakes last month as demand crashed, hit by the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, slowing global growth and political uncertainty in Europe ahead of Britain's imminent departure from the EU.
"All in all it does suggest there is a lot of weakness out there. What's driving it is those countries which are particularly exposed to China and they have taken a hit," said Peter Dixon at Commerzbank."Overall it doesn't appear to have been a particularly strong start to the year." In Britain, which is due to leave the European Union in less than a month, factories stockpiled goods at the fastest pace seen in any Group of Seven country since records started in the early 1990s in case the country fails to get a transition deal to smooth the shock of Brexit.
While there was a marginal pick-up in domestic orders in China, analysts said it was too early to tell if it was due to growth-boosting measures announced by Beijing in recent months or seasonal distortions linked to the long Lunar New Year holidays early in the year. Sources have told Reuters Beijing will set a 2019 growth target of 6.0-6.5 percent, down from around 6.5 percent in 2018. China reported economic growth cooled to 6.6 percent last year, its weakest pace since 1990, but some analysts believe actual activity is much weaker.
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