China Stocks Struggle for Direction
2026-10-14 02:07
By
Czyrill Jean Coloma
1 min. read
The Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% to 3,791 on Wednesday, while the Shenzhen Component was little changed to around 12,351, as investors weighed signs of a gradual recovery in consumer prices against mounting cost pressures for producers.
China’s annual inflation rate edged up to 0.9% in September from 0.8% in August, below expectations of 1% but the highest since June.
Producer price inflation accelerated to 5.0% from 3.8%, beating forecasts of 4.5% and marking the strongest rise since June 2022.
Renewed hostilities in the Middle East and risks to global oil supplies have intensified price pressures, driving up input costs and squeezing margins as Chinese businesses struggle to pass higher expenses on to consumers.
Investors now turn their attention to trade data due later today for further clues on the outlook for external demand.
Notable decliners included Foxconn Industrial Internet (-1.4%), Zijin Mining Group (-1.1%), Zhongji Innolight (-2.3%) and Eoptolink Technology (-2.7%).