China on Wednesday reported surprisingly weaker growth in industrial output and retail sales for April, reinforcing expectations that Beijing needs to roll out more stimulus measures as the trade war with the United States escalates.
Latin American stocks in the region's main markets closed on Tuesday at new highs on the positive outlook for the ongoing US/China trade talks in Beijing. Brazil's Bovespa index ended trading above 92,000 points for the first time ever after hitting several record highs last week.
Latin America's economic growth is set to come in lower than expected this year, as US protectionism and widespread wariness of emerging markets put a drag on the region, a UN panel said Thursday. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) slashed its growth forecast for the region by 0.7 point to 1.5%, saying the complex global scenario had dimmed the outlook since its last report in April.
Brazil's economy grew by a percentage point in 2017 after two years of contraction, government figures showed Thursday, confirming the South American giant's recovery from one of the worst recessions in its history. The agro-industrial sector led the way with 13% growth last year, trailed by the service sector, which showed 0.3% growth. Industrial output remained stable.
China's economy grew by 6.9% in 2017 according to official data - the first time in seven years the pace of growth has picked up. The figure beats Beijing's official annual expansion target of about 6.5% and is good news for the global economy since China's impact and the better-than-expected data is likely to cheer investors around the world.