China CPI inflation a bit faster than forecast

MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- China s consumer inflation rate held steady in January, printing slightly above forecasts, while wholesale prices fell at a faster rate than in December. The consumer price index rose 2.5% from a year earlier, or 1% on a monthly basis, as beef and vegetable prices all rose. The year-on-year result was identical to that in December, though the month-on-month gain was above a 0.3% rise in the previous month. The result also surpassed a median forecast 2.3% rise in separate surveys from The Wall Street Journal and Reuters. The producer price index, meanwhile, fell 1.6% from a year earlier -- the largest drop since August -- and was 0.1% below that of a month earlier. This compared to a 1.4% fall in December, when prices were flat on a monthly basis. The result matched the forecast from the Wall Street Journal poll of economists. Stocks opened higher as the data were released, with Hong Kong s Hang Seng Index up 1.1% compared to a 1% premarket gain ahead of the numbers, while the Shanghai Composite swung to a 0.4% gain from a 0.1% loss in the premarket. The Australian dollar rose briefly immediately after the data but quickly returned to its previous level around 90.10 U.S. cents.Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.