The Traderszone Network

Alibaba Group will shift its Tmall online-pharmacy business to its publicly traded health-care arm in a deal valued at $2.51 billion, as it ramps its focus in that sector.
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China grew at its slowest pace in six years at the start of 2015 and weakness in key sectors suggested the world’s second-largest economy was still losing momentum, intensifying Beijing’s struggle to find the right policy mix to shore up activity. A series of cuts in interest rates, lower reserve ratios at banks and easing measures in the property sector look to have mostly flowed into stock market speculation without delivering much support to fundamentals.

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The U.S. government on Tuesday forecast domestic crude production will rise even more than expected a year ago, undeterred by the worst price rout since the financial crisis. U.S. crude oil production will peak at 10.6 million barrels per day in 2020, a million barrels more than the high forecast a year earlier, according to the annual energy outlook by the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Energy Department. Crude production will then moderate to 9.4 million bpd in 2040, 26 percent more than expected a year ago, the agency said.

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Oil prices rose on Wednesday after signs of a dip in U.S. production, but gains were capped by Chinese quarterly growth slowing to a six-year low. Front-month Brent crude futures (LCOc1) were trading up 47 cents at $58.90 a barrel by 0310 GMT, while U.S. crude (CLc1) was up 28 cents at $53.57. This followed a U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report forecasting U.S. shale production would fall by 45,000 bpd to 4.98 million bpd in May, which would be the first monthly decline in four years.

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Asian markets stumbled on Wednesday as relief China had matched its own growth target was soured by poor readings on consumer demand and industrial activity, underlining the need for more policy action by Beijing. European stock markets were, however, expected to open flat to higher. The European Central Bank is expected to keep rates unchanged when it meets later on Wednesday. Data earlier in the day showed growth in China’s colossal economy did slow to a six-year low of 7 percent in the first quarter, but that was better than many feared after a woeful trade performance in March.

Intel Corp’s first-quarter revenue was flat from a year ago and in line with its own recently lowered expectations, due to weak demand for PCs that use the company’s chips. The company’s sales were flat …

Retail sales rose in March for the first time since November as consumers stepped up purchases of automobiles and other goods, suggesting a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter was temporary. The Commerce Department’s fairly sturdy report on Tuesday together with other data showing that producer inflation crept up last month should keep the Federal Reserve on track to start raising interest rates later this year. “A rebound in retail sales in March provides evidence that the U.S. economy is pulling out of a soft patch seen at the start of the year.

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