China Stocks Erase Earlier Gains

2026-05-18 02:39 By Czyrill Jean Coloma 1 min. read

The Shanghai Composite inched down 0.09% to close at 4,132 on Monday, while the Shenzhen Component slipped 0.2%, weighed down by a series of weaker-than-expected economic data from China.

New home prices across 70 major cities fell 3.5% year-on-year in April 2026, while fixed-asset investment declined 1.6% in the January–April period.

Retail sales rose just 0.2% annually, the weakest pace since December 2022, and industrial production slowed to 4.1%, its softest expansion since July 2023.

Meanwhile, the urban unemployment rate eased to a three-month low of 5.2%.

The data point to a broad-based slowdown, raising expectations of eventual policy support, though authorities remain cautious.

Attention now turns to the Communist Party’s Politburo meeting in July, a key moment for reassessing growth targets and policy direction.

Notable laggards included Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (-0.83%), Zijin Mining Group (-2.64%), Contemporary Amperex Technology (-0.86%), and BYD (-1.44%).



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