ICYMI – China's industrial profits fell 2.3% in 2023

<p>Its heading towards 7am in Beijing and another day will begin spoon after that on battling stock exchanges in the country. </p><p>Its likely to be a rocky start if after-hours trade in the US is anything to go by, shares took a hit on the solid reporting: </p><ul><li><a href="https://www.forexlive.com/news/microsoft-and-alphabet-earnings-and-revenues-beat-expectations-20240130/" target="_self">Microsoft and Alphabet earnings/revenues beat expectations. Starbucks, AMD, Stryker too.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.forexlive.com/news/us-equity-index-futures-dragged-lower-by-falling-stock-prices-for-alphabet-msft-20240130/" target="_self">US equity index futures dragged lower by falling stock prices for Alphabet &amp; MSFT</a></li></ul><p>As further background, data on profits at China's industrial firms fell 2.3% in 2023</p><ul><li>their second straight yearly decline</li><li>cited were sluggish demand at home and abroad</li></ul><p>There were some signs of improvement:</p><p>December alone results showed industrial profits +16.8% y/y (from +29.5% in November), a fifth month of gains</p>

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.