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China’s economy grew at a faster pace than forecast in the third quarter, official data showed Monday, but investors reacted with alarm to President Xi Jinping’s sweeping new powers over the ruling Communist Party.

Xi secured an expected third term as leader at a party Congress over the weekend, but surprised observers by stacking leadership positions with proteges and allies. 

After delaying the release of economic data last week, the government announced Monday that the economy grew 3.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter.

China had been expected to announce some of its weakest quarterly growth figures since 2020, with the world’s second-biggest economy hobbled by Covid-19 restrictions and a real estate crisis.

But investors instead focused on the political developments, which raised fears Xi and his allies would continue with gruelling virus lockdowns and other policies that have punished the economy.

China’s currency slumped and stocks nosedived in Hong Kong to their lowest level since the global financial crisis.

On Monday, the onshore yuan dipped more than 0.4 percent to 7.2633 per dollar — its weakest since January 2008.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, a gauge of Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong, closed down by more than 7 percent — the worst showing after any Communist Party Congress since the start of the index in 1994.

“The market is concerned that with so many Xi supporters elected, Xi’s unfettered ability to enact policies that are not market friendly is now cemented,” said Justin Tang, head of Asian research at United First Partners.

One of the most pressing concerns is Xi’s zero-Covid policy, which continues to put tens of millions of people under rolling lockdowns that also shutter factories. 

China is the last of the world’s major economies to hew to the strategy.  

“There is no clear sign of a significant easing of the zero-Covid strategy,” Nomura’s Ting Lu said, noting that, if anything, the opposite had happened. 

In a speech to close the Congress on Saturday, Xi insisted China’s Covid response has been a success. 

And he promoted Li Qiang, the architect of a two-month lockdown in Shanghai that crippled the financial hub’s economy, to the second most powerful post in the Communist Party.

Tech firms were among the worst hit by Monday’s sell-off, which comes after Xi’s crackdown on the sector scythed firms’ profits and wiped billions off their valuations.

E-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com tanked more than 10 percent each, while Tencent lost more than eight percent. 

China is also battling an unprecedented crisis in its real estate sector — which makes up more than a quarter of the country’s GDP when combined with construction. 

Following years of explosive growth fuelled by easy access to loans, Xi oversaw a crackdown on excessive debt.

Property sales are now falling across the country, leaving many developers struggling and some owners refusing to pay their mortgages for unfinished homes.

Still, the economic data released on Monday gave some cause for optimism.

The third-quarter growth was higher than the 2.5 percent predicted by a panel of experts surveyed by AFP.

“Many economic indicators have actually recovered reasonably well from the mass lockdowns of March and April,” according to analyst Thomas Gatley of Gavekal Dragonomics.

Car sales held strong in September, driven by strong demand for electric clean vehicles.

August exports increased 7.1 percent compared with the previous year, and Beijing has invested in infrastructure to support activity.

In the second quarter of the year, growth had collapsed to 0.4 percent on-year, the worst performance since 2020. 

The country posted 4.8 percent growth in the first quarter of 2022.

Many economists continue to think China will struggle to attain its 2022 growth target of around 5.5 percent, and the International Monetary Fund has lowered its GDP growth forecast to 3.2 percent for 2022 and 4.4 percent for next year.

— Bloomberg News contributed to this story —

Britain’s new prime minister, set to be former finance minister Rishi Sunak, inherits a UK economy that was headed for recession even before the recent turmoil triggered by Liz Truss.

Outgoing Prime Minister Truss resigned after her budget of tax cuts funded by debt sent shockwaves through markets, crashing the pound.

That caused the government to U-turn on most of its budget, including scaling back a cap on soaring energy bills that have contributed heavily to a cost-of-living crisis for tens of millions of Britons.

Data Monday showed Britain’s economic downturn has worsened in October, with private-sector output at a 21-month low.

“October’s flash PMI data showed the pace of economic decline gathering momentum after the recent political and financial market upheavals,” noted Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence that helped compile the figures.

“The heightened political and economic uncertainty has caused business activity to fall at a rate not seen since the global financial crisis in 2009 if pandemic lockdown months are excluded.”

Williamson added that upcoming data would likely show Britain already in recession.

The S&P Global/ CIPS flash UK composite purchasing managers index stood at 47.2 in October, below September’s level of 49.1.

A figure under 50 indicates a contraction.

The UK is not alone, however, with separate S&P data pointing to “impending recession” in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy.

– ‘Sunak stability’ –

Truss resigned last Thursday after just 44 days as prime minister. She had succeeded Boris Johnson on September 6 after a weeks-long campaign against Tory rival Sunak.

The former chancellor of the exchequer had warned in the battle to succeed Johnson that tax cuts promised by Truss when government debt had already soared on Covid interventions was the wrong policy to pursue.

He was proved right as the budget sent the pound crashing to a record-low close to parity with the dollar and triggered yields on government bonds to soar.

With Sunak seen as bringing stability to markets, sterling rose and yields fell Monday.

“Investors clearly hope Sunak will stabilise the economy and the political situation — though it’s hard to work out at this point which is the harder task,” said AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson.

“As well as the recovery in sterling and the reduced cost of government borrowing (as yields drop), Sunak will be pleased to see European gas prices” falling.

However, with UK inflation at a 40-year high above 10 percent, the Bank of England is set to unveil another bumper interest-rate hike at a regular policy meeting next week.

This will heap further pressure on borrowers, including home owners who have seen mortgage rates surge in the wake of the government’s costly budget.

Germany, the EU’s top economy and Europe’s export powerhouse, looks headed for imminent recession, according to a closely watched survey Monday that pointed to a deepening eurozone contraction.

There are “growing signs of an impending recession in the eurozone’s largest economy,” S&P Global Market Intelligence said as it released its eurozone purchasing managers’ index for October.

The PMI for the 19-nation area fell to 47.1, down from 48.1 a month earlier — its fourth consecutive drop and that fastest decline in nearly two years — as soaring inflation and high energy prices bit deeper.

In Germany, the PMI dropped to 44.1, from 45.7 in September.

A reading below 50 signals an economic contraction.

The downward pressure on eurozone economic activity underlined the woes thrown up by Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has crimped energy supplies.

Germany’s reading was the lowest since initial business shutdowns in Germany when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Both manufacturing and services in Germany were showing accelerated rates of shrinkage, though that had yet to feed through into jobs-shedding, the survey showed.

German businesses were “deeply pessimistic” about the year-ahead outlook.

In France, the second-biggest economy in the EU, the economy was stagnating, with a PMI of 50 compared with 51.2 in September.

Although France is suffering less than other countries in Europe from inflation, rising prices are still putting pressure on consumers, leading to a severe fall in factory orders.

Across the eurozone, the PMI indicated that factory output had dropped for the fifth consecutive month, at a rate unseen since the worst of the pandemic.

Supply congestion and shortages had eased a bit, against a backdrop of flagging demand. While input demand had slumped, rising energy bills and wage pressure kept costs high.

A eurozone-wide recession “is looking increasingly inevitable,” S&P Global Market Intelligence chief business economist Chris Williamson said.

“The region’s energy crisis remains a major concern and a drag on activity, especially in energy intensive sectors.”

– ECB rate decision –

The PMI data came ahead of a Thursday meeting of the European Central Bank’s governing board that is expected to deliver a big interest rate cut in a bid to cool inflation.

Inflation in the 19-nation eurozone stood at nearly 10 percent in September, five times the ECB’s target of two percent.

The German economy, whose energy-hungry industries relied heavily on Russian gas before the war, is now forecast to shrink by 0.4 percent in 2023.

Higher interest rates typically mean putting a dampener on business activity, as credit becomes more expensive and consumer spending decreases.

The EU is struggling to find ways to mitigate energy prices. 

A summit last week agreed on a number of measures, but a key one, of capping wholesale gas prices, was kicked into future deliberations by Germany, which fears gas supplies being diverted to more lucrative markets in Asia.

Berlin has unholstered a massive 200-billion-euro ($197-billion) plan to shield German consumers from high energy prices, triggering unease among EU partners at its go-it-alone approach that risks distorting the single market.

At the summit German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reluctantly agreed to have the bloc look further at the price cap measure but only after an impact analysis.

The International Monetary Fund on Sunday said that downturns in parts of Europe could turn into “deeper recessions” across the continent.

Government support to tackle energy costs and inflation would “only partly” offset those strains, it said.

The IMF already predicted that Germany and Italy would slip into recession next year.

Dutch medical device manufacturer Philips said Monday it will slash 4,000 jobs after a massive financial hit for a recall of faulty sleep respirators pushed it into loss.

The 1.3-billion-euro ($1.28 billion) write-down for the defective machines pushed the firm, which currently has nearly 80,000 employees worldwide, into a net loss of the same amount.

Philips is negotiating with US authorities over a final settlement on the faulty devices that put users with sleep apnea at risk of inhaling toxic foam, and faces a number of lawsuits.

“We do face multiple challenges,” said new chief executive Roy Jakobs, who only took over earlier this month, adding that the firm had to take “immediate steps” to cut costs.

“This includes the difficult but necessary decision to immediately reduce our workforce by around 4,000 roles globally… a decision we do not take lightly,” he said in a call with investors.

The job losses would mainly be in the United States, the Netherlands, India and China, he said.

Shares in Philips dropped 0.75 percent on the Amsterdam stock exchange in morning trading. 

The firm’s previous CEO Frans van Houten stepped down earlier this month after leading the company’s transition from a consumer electronics to medical device manufacturer over the past 12 years.

Dutchman Jakobs admitted that Amsterdam-based Philips had to “rebuild trust” and had not “lived up to… expectations” of its shareholders in recent years.

“These initial actions are needed to start turning the company around in order to realise Philips’ profitable growth potential and create value for all our stakeholders,” Jakobs said.

– ‘Class-action lawsuits’ –

Philips first announced a recall in June 2021 after sound-dampening foam on some of its sleep respirators was found to degrade under certain conditions.

The issue put users at risk of inhaling or swallowing pieces of debris with what the firm called “possible toxic and carcinogenic effects”.

It has since produced four million replacement devices and repair kits, it said.

But Philips now faces a US Department of Justice investigation and has been in negotiation with US authorities over a proposed financial settlement since July 2022. 

The firm said it also faces “several class-action lawsuits and individual personal injury claims”.

Philips had already set aside 900 million euros over the faulty respirators and had warned two weeks ago it would take the 1.3-billion-euro charge this quarter for the problem.

But it says it cannot give a final overall figure for the respirator issue “given the uncertain nature and timing of the relevant events.”

Philips expects to make another 300 million euros in charges in coming quarters as it proceeds with the restructuring, although it expects those measures will lead to savings of a similar amount.

The company posted a net profit of three billion euros in the third quarter last year, but that was boosted from the sale of its domestic appliances business.

Sales came in at 4.3 billion euros in the July-September period, a drop of five percent on a comparable basis from the same time last year due to supply chain problems.

This was partly because of “operational and supply challenges, inflationary pressures, the Covid situation in China and the Russia-Ukraine war”, the company said.

Philips currently employs nearly 80,000 people in 100 countries.

It started off as a lighting company more than 100 years ago but has undergone major changes in recent years, focusing in particular on remote healthcare.

Credit Suisse has agreed to pay 238 million euros ($234 million) to avoid prosecution on French money laundering and tax fraud charges, according to a settlement approved Monday by a Paris court.

The settlement will see Switzerland’s second-largest bank pay a fine of 123 million euros and pay an additional 115 million euros in damages and interest to the French state.

Credit Suisse said it had reached the settlement “to resolve a legacy matter in relation to an investigation into historical cross-border private-banking services.”

It added that “the settlement does not comprise a recognition of criminal liability.”

French financial prosecutors opened a probe in 2016 and found that 5,000 French nationals had undeclared Credit Suisse accounts that were hiding two billion euros, according to the court.

The judge presiding over the settlement said that Credit Suisse bankers had prospected for clients in high-end French restaurants and hotels, avoiding the bank’s offices in the country.

Prosecutor Francois-Xavier Dulin said the settlement took into account “the systematic character, lengthy period and creation of tools to hide” its prospecting of French clients between 2005 and 2012.

He said Credit Suisse had created offshore entities to aid clients to avoid declaring certain assets to French authorities.

Prosecutors added the settlement also took into account the bank’s current cooperation and the corrective measures it undertook.

“The bank is pleased to resolve this matter, which marks another important step in the proactive resolution of litigation and legacy issues,” Credit Suisse said in its statement.

Most markets rose Monday on hopes the Federal Reserve would soon slow its pace of interest rate hikes, though the mood was darkened by worries over the China outlook after President Xi Jinping tightened his grip on power.

The yen weakened against the dollar after a short rally as speculation swirled that Japanese authorities had stepped into forex markets again to support their currency for a second time in as many sessions.

Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul and Taipei led gains after a strong performance in New York that was sparked by a report the Fed could begin to take its foot off the pedal in its rate hike campaign.

The Wall Street Journal said some officials were keen to discuss a slowdown when they meet next month.

Markets have been hammered this year by fears that moves by the Fed and other central banks to fight decades-high inflation will spark a recession.

Officials had been expected to lift rates 75 basis points for a fourth successive time next month, while bets were increasing on another such move in December.

“The mere suggestion of the Fed stepping down from 75 basis points to a 50 basis point incremental rate hike in December produced a fierce rally in US equities, partial reversal of the recent surge in US Treasury yields and smart about-turn in the US dollar,” said National Australia Bank’s Ray Attrill.

But while most equity markets across the region were well up, Chinese markets were hammered by the reshuffle at the top of government. Hong Kong fell more than six percent and Shanghai was two percent down.

– Zero-Covid worries –

Xi, who was at the weekend given a third five-year term as leader, handed key positions to loyalists who back his strategy of fighting Covid outbreaks with lockdowns and other strict measures.

The policy has been blamed for the sharp drop in growth in the world’s number two economy, and while data showed Monday that it expanded more than forecast in the third quarter, traders remain on edge.

In a speech to close the Congress on Saturday, Xi insisted his zero-Covid policy had been a success.

And he promoted Li Qiang, the architect of a two-month lockdown in Shanghai that crippled the financial hub’s economy, to the second most powerful post in the Communist Party.

“The market is concerned that with so many Xi supporters elected, Xi’s unfettered ability to enact policies that are not market friendly is now cemented,” Justin Tang of United First Partners said.

Tech firms were among the worst hit in the Hong Kong selloff, hammered in recent years by Xi’s crackdown on the sector that has scythed firms’ profits and wiped billions off their valuations.

E-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com each saw double-digit losses, as did Tencent. The Hang Seng tech index was close to 10 percent down.

The onshore yuan dipped as much as 0.4 percent to 7.2552 to the dollar — its weakest since January 2008.

Investor worries about China also weighed on oil markets with both main contracts in retreat as the prospect of more possible lockdowns hitting demand expectations.

On currency markets, the yen was hovering just above 149 to the dollar, having strengthened to 145.65 earlier amid talk that authorities had intervened to support the unit.

Observers said officials likely stepped in on Friday after the dollar soared to a fresh 32-year high of 151.93 yen. That came after warnings from the finance ministry that it was keeping tabs on movements, and follows a similar move last month.

“Whilst the (finance ministry) has since declined to comment on whether they intervened, such action has not come without multiple warnings from officials,” said Matt Simpson at City Index.

“The MoF last week said they will deal with speculators ‘severely’ and the strong price reaction on Friday suggests they did just that.

“Price action has also been erratic in Monday’s Asian session, which points to another probable intervention.”

The pound rose after former UK prime minister Boris Johnson said he would not stand for the Conservative leadership again, after the resignation of Liz Truss last week.

His decision leaves his former finance minister Rishi Sunak the favourite to take the reins and become the country’s third premier this year.

The choice of the less-controversial Sunak could provide a little stability in Westminster after weeks of turmoil sparked by Truss’s debt-fuelled mini-budget that hammered the pound and sent shivers through markets.

London slipped in the morning, though Paris and Frankfurt rose even as data showed further weakness in the eurozone economy.

– Key figures around 0810 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 26,974.90 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 6.4 percent at 15,180.69 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 2.0 percent at 2,977.56 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 6,946.36

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1330 from $1.1258 on Friday

Dollar/yen: UP at 149.15 yen from 147.65 yen

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $0.9841 from $0.9863

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.88 pence from 87.26 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.5 percent at $83.81 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.3 percent at $92.27 per barrel

New York – Dow: UP 2.5 percent at 31,082.56 (close)