China's car sales fell for the first time in more than two decades in 2018
Focus may be on US-China trade talks for now, but this could be the thing that threatens to derail the positive risk sentiment on the day. The China Passenger Car Association reports that China's car sales fell by 6% last year to 22.7 million units in what is the country's first annual slump in car sales in at least two decades.
For some context, China is the world's biggest market for the car industry and unless trade talks are set for a resolution down the road and Chinese stocks are able to rebound, expect this year to continue flashing warning signs to the global economy as well.
If you ever saw a movie where things are going smoothly and then there's this small tiny red alarm flashing and everyone just ignores it, well market sentiment today is very much just like that now. Let's see if that tiny red alarm will start to draw more attention later in the day.
