CHINA: The bond market is rumoring that Chinese consumer price inflation
accelerated to 2.7% y/y in February after January’s surprise dip to
1.5%. M2 growth at end-February is rumored to have grown 25.52% —
broadly unchanged with end-January’s 25.98% — and M1 up 34.99%, down
from 38.96% at end-January. New loans are pegged at CNY700.1 billion,
broadly in line with a spate of recent press reports citing unidentified
sources. If confirmed, it would mark a sharp drop from January’s CNY1.39
trillion. The National Bureau of Statistics is expected to release
February data on Thursday morning, and the People’s Bank of China to
issue last month’s monetary aggregates before the end of this week. Data
often leaks into the market ahead of the official release time, though
bond market rumors do not have a perfect track record for accuracy.