Pictured here is a Shanghai development under construction on Nov. 4, 2024.
Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images
BEIJING — China’s National Bureau of Statistics is scheduled Friday to release retail sales, industrial production and fixed-asset investment data for October.
Retail sales are expected to have picked up to 3.8% year-on-year growth, according to analysts polled by Reuters, after rising by 3.2% in September.
Industrial production was forecast to have risen by 5.6%, the poll showed, up from 5.4% the prior month.
Fixed-asset investment, reported on a year-to-date basis, was anticipated to post 3.5% growth from a year ago, up from the 3.4% pace in September, according to the poll.
Chinese authorities have ramped up stimulus announcements since late September, fueling a stock rally. The central bank has cut interest rates and extended existing real estate support.
On the fiscal front, the Ministry of Finance last week announced a five-year 10 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) program to address local government debt problems, and hinted more fiscal support could come next year.
Imports, however, fell as domestic demand remained soft. The core consumer price index that strips out more volatile food and energy prices rose by 0.2% in October from a year ago, modestly better than the 0.1% increase seen in September.
China’s Golden Week holiday in early October affirmed a trend in more cautious consumer spending, but several consultants said that sales during the Singles Day shopping festival, which recently ended, had beat low expectations.
The country’s gross domestic product in the first three quarters of the year grew by 4.8%. The country has set a target of around 5% growth for the year.
This is a developing story. Please check back later for updates.
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Hertz — Shares of the rental car company soared nearly 16%, extending the gains seen in the previous session. On Wednesday, the stock skyrocketed more than 56% after Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed that it had taken a sizable stake in the name. UnitedHealth — The stock plunged more than 19% after the insurer’s first-quarter results missed analysts’ estimates. UnitedHealth reported adjusted earnings of $7.20 per share on revenue of $109.58 billion, below the $7.29 in earnings per share and $111.60 billion that analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for. The company also slashed its full-year guidance . Eli Lilly — The pharmaceutical stock surged 11% after phase-three trial results for a pill to treat weight loss and diabetes showed positive results. Taiwan Semiconductor — U.S. shares jumped more than 3% after the chipmaker’s results for the first quarter topped Wall Street’s expectations. The company also maintained its 2025 revenue forecast, noting that it has not yet seen any changes in customer behavior despite there being “uncertainties and risks from the potential impact of tariff policies.” D.R. Horton — The homebuilding stock fell more than 3% on the heels of the company posting weaker-than-expected second-quarter results. D.R. Horton earned $2.58 per share, while analysts had expected earnings of $2.63 per share, according to LSEG. Revenue of $7.73 billion also missed the consensus estimate of $8.03 billion. Alcoa — Shares dropped more than 2% after the company’s revenue of $3.37 billion for the first quarter missed expectations, with analysts calling for $3.53 billion, per LSEG. Earnings, however, came in better than expected. — CNBC’s Jesse Pound contributed reporting.
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: Alphabet — Shares of the megacap technology name pulled back 1.2% after a federal judge ruled that Google has illegally monopolized online advertising technology , namely the markets for publisher ad servers and ad exchanges. Hertz — The rental car company surged 50% to a 52-week high, following a 56% rally in the previous session, after Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square took a sizable stake . A regulatory filing revealed Pershing Square had built a 4.1% position as of the end of 2024. Pershing has significantly increased the position — to 19.8% — through shares and swaps, becoming Hertz’s second-largest shareholder, CNBC reported. Nvidia , Advanced Micro Devices — Shares of Nvidia dipped nearly 3% and AMD declined 1%, continuing their declines from the previous session when the chipmakers announced additional charges tied to China exports due to President Donald Trump’s tariff plans. Global Payments , Fidelity National Information Services — Global Payments announced it is acquiring Worldpay for $24.25 billion from Fidelity National Information Services and a private equity firm, and divesting its Issuer Solutions business. Shares of Global Payments fell 16%, while Fidelity National Information Services jumped 8.6%. Taiwan Semiconductor — U.S. shares jumped more than 1% after the chipmaker’s results for the first quarter topped Wall Street’s expectations. The company also maintained its 2025 revenue forecast, noting that it has not yet seen any changes in customer behavior despite there being “uncertainties and risks from the potential impact of tariff policies.” UnitedHealth — Shares of the insurer plummeted about 22% on the back of disappointing first-quarter results. UnitedHealth reported adjusted earnings of $7.20 per share on revenue of $109.58 billion, falling short of the $7.29 in earnings per share and $111.60 billion that analysts surveyed by LSEG called for. The company also slashed its full-year guidance . Eli Lilly — The pharmaceutical stock jumped 16% after Eli Lilly said its daily obesity pill showed positive results in its late-stage trials. Weight loss data, along with rates of side effects and treatment discontinuations, from the experimental pill — called orforglipron — came out in line with what some Wall Street analysts were expecting. The pill fell short of some analysts’ estimates for a key diabetes metric. Alcoa — The stock shed nearly 5% after Alcoa, one of the world’s largest aluminum producers, reported first-quarter revenue of $3.37 billion, which fell short of the forecast $3.53 billion from analysts polled by LSEG. Alcoa’s earnings came out better than expected. D.R. Horton — The homebuilding stock gained 3% despite posting weaker-than-expected second-quarter results. D.R. Horton reported earnings of $2.58 per share, while analysts had expected earnings of $2.63 per share, according to LSEG. The company’s revenue of $7.73 billion came out below the consensus $8.03 billion estimate. — CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Yun Li contributed reporting.
American Express‘s affluent cardmembers are showing few signs of curbing their spending, and younger customers drove growth in first-quarter transaction volumes, Chief Financial Officer Christophe Le Caillec told CNBC.
Billed business on AmEx cards rose 6% in the period, or 7% when adjusted for the impact of leap year, the company reported Thursday, which shows that the bump in spending late last year continued into 2025, according to Le Caillec.
Those trends have continued into April, the CFO said, despite sharp declines in stocks this month amid concerns that President Donald Trump’s tariff policies will cause a recession.
The dynamic, which helped AmEx top expectations for first-quarter profit, shows that the company’s wealthier customer base may help to insulate it from concerns about tariffs and stubborn inflation. On the other end of the credit spectrum, Synchrony Financial, which offers store cards for dozens of popular retailers, has warned of a spending slowdown.
“There’s a lot of stability and strength, despite the news and the environment,” Le Caillec said.
Growth at AmEx came from younger cardholders, with millennial and Gen Z members spending 14% more in the quarter. Gen X and Baby Boomer cardholders showed more caution, registering 5% and 1% increases, respectively.
Le Caillec said it’s difficult to discern whether cardmembers were pulling forward purchases because of the looming tariffs, creating an artificial boost to purchase volumes, as JPMorgan executives said last week. But some small businesses may be doing so to build inventory because of concerns about the duties increasing costs, he added.
Airline slump
One category in particular gave Le Caillec confidence that the spending trends may be durable.
“Restaurant spend is up 8%,” the CFO said. “This is the ultimate discretionary expense, it’s not something you can bring forward, and so it’s really a good indicator of the strength of our cardmember base and the confidence they have.”
If there was a weak area besides the spending slowdown from older Americans, it was in airline transactions, according to the company’s earnings presentation. The category grew just 3%, or 4% when adjusted for leap year, after climbing 13% in the fourth quarter.
But while airlines, retailers and other corporations have pulled their earnings guidance on tariff uncertainty, AmEx was holding firm.
It maintained its guidance for revenue growth of 8% to 10% and earnings of $15 to $15.50 per share this year, Le Caillec said.
In the company’s presentation, though, it added a new caveat to its guidance: “Subject to the Macroeconomic Environment.”