Fixed asset investment was up as was industrial production and retail sales, although these numbers disappointed.
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Fixed asset investment in China rose marginally on the month, seasonally adjusted, to 1.94 percent.
More China data is coming out on Friday, including fixed asset investment and retail sales.
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Chinese Fixed Asset Investment as a per cent of GDP is massive and unprecedented in history.
Growth of fixed asset investment rose to 20.7 percent, fairly close to consensus estimates of 20.6 percent.
Fixed asset investment, for example, has weakened materially, while inventory conditions, particularly in cyclical industries, have deteriorated.
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But it is not increasing fixed asset investment, keeping it hovering around 20 percent growth quarter over quarter.
Fixed asset investment has expanded by more than 30% in the first five months of 2004, compared to a year-ago.
The year-to-date fixed asset investment (FAI) growth an important gauge of the Chinese government spending came in stronger than expected, rising 21.5% year-over-year.
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Andy notes in his most recent report that value-added for larger industrial firms and fixed asset investment rose at a pace consistent with 8 to 8.5 percent GDP growth.
The data did show a return to personal consumption in China and a softening of fixed asset investment at least in the near term across the manufacturing, infrastructure and property sectors.
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Chinese states may also see some stimulus from Beijing in their initiatives to promote growth, even though Beijing is trying to stay away from abundant fixed asset investment spending on things like roads and bridges.
In construction machinery, for example, sales of wheel loaders in April were down 28 percent, and excavator sales were down 40 percent, from the sales levels achieved in March, reflecting a slowdown in fixed asset investment.
While Credit Suisse says FAI growth was boosted by government investment stimulus, CLSA also notes that fixed asset investment and capital spending by private firms has been rising faster than state-owned firms for 30 of the last 31 months.
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Fixed-asset investment rose 25.8% in the first five months, up from 25.4% in the January to April period.
Exports have held up well, fixed-asset investment and retail sales have been strong and credit growth has accelerated.
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China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2% after news that industrial production for April and urban fixed-asset investment for the January-to-April period didn't rise as much as expected.
Industrial output in December rose 10.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011, while 2012 non-rural fixed-asset investment climbed 20.6 percent year-over-year, all in line with market expectations.
Asked about the emergence of ghost towns across China and the risks of excessive, and unnecessary, infrastructure development via fixed-asset investment, Guthrie chose to focus on demographic trends.
Industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment were all up in November, while new home prices rose in 53 out of 70 major cities in China in November, from the previous month.
"We've held a substantial long position in the Mexican peso since the beginning of the year, which has done very well, and we're going to keep that for the time being simply on fundamentals and attractive valuations, " said Dagmar Dvorak, an investment manager of fixed income and currencies at Baring Asset Management in London.
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