Released from China, Q1 GDP grew 6.8% yoy, same as prior quarter and met expectation. Retail sales rose 10.1% yoy in March, up from prior 9.7% yoy and beat expectation of 9.7% yoy. Industrial production, however, rose 6.0% yoy, slowed from prior 7.2% yoy and missed expectation of 6.9% yoy. Fixed assets investment also slowed to 7.5% yoy, down from 7.9% yoy and missed expectation of 7.7% yoy. Overall, the set of data showed robust growth momentum.
Separately, US Treasury data showed showed that China remained the largest foreign creditor to the US, holding USD 1.18T in US bonds, bills and notes in February. Debt holding by China has indeed by USD 8.5B for the month, the largest rise in six months. But it should be noted that the data was for the period even before the 232 steel tariffs of the US, not to mention the Section 301 tariffs against China. The impact of trade tensions on Chinese interest in US debts remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Japan came as second largest foreign holder of US debts, dropped slightly from USD 1.07T to USD 1.06T.
