SINGAPORE Nike Air Vapormax Flyknit , Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Singapore shares closed 0.07 percent lower on Thursday, weighed by HSBC China manufacturing data which fell to a seven-month low.
The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity Nike Air Vapormax , fell to a seven-month low of 48.3 in February, compared with a final reading of 49.5 in January.
A reading above 50 indicates an expansion from the previous month, while a reading below 50 indicates a contraction. Market now speculated that Beijing leaders may fine-tune policy to keep growth at a steady pace in the coming year.
Meanwhile Cheap Air Vapormax Flyknit , minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting showed it remained on track to taper its stimulus despite a recent spate of downbeat U.S. economic data. The minutes showed members on the Federal Reserve's policy setting committee emphasized their commitment to trimming the central bank's asset- purchase program in predictable 10-billion U.S. dollars steps.
The Federal Reserve's stance to maintain its the pace of stimulus-tapering comes despite a recent run of weak U.S. data, possibly reflecting confidence among policymakers about the growth trajectory.
The benchmark fell 2.15 points to close at 3,086.64 points. Trading volume was 1.61 billion shares worth 928 million Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 225 to 183 Cheap Air Vapormax , while 532 stocks closed unchanged.
Phillip Securities Research said "although we have a longer term bullish bias due to macro fundamentals, we recognize we have been on an intermediate term downtrend."
Among top actives, WE Holdings sank 17.6 percent to 2.8 Singapore cents. It has entered into a memorandum of understanding to on-sell iron ore lumps and iron ore fines produced by Malaysian miner Air Vapormax Flyknit Sale , ATR Natural Resources, to Shanghai-based trading company, Pacific Treasure International.
Sin Heng Heavy Machinery fell 0.5 percent to 19.3 Singapore cents. It has been awarded the exclusive distributorship of Arcomet's self - erecting crane in Singapore as well as Brunei Air Vapormax Sale , Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos Air Vapormax Flyknit Shoes , Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
SIIC Environment closed flat at 19.5 Singapore cents. It reported fourth quarter revenue of 31.1 million Chinese yuan Air Vapormax Shoes , including close to 27 million Chinese yuan of one-off charges. These non-operating charges were 4 million Chinese yuan of forex losses, 11 million Chinese yuan of impairment of goodwill and 14 million Chinese yuan of doubtful receivables. Without this, its core profit would be 58.7 million Chinese yuan.
Among the top gainers Air Vapormax Flyknit 2018 , UOB rose 0.5 percent to 20.70 Singapore dollars, while Jardine Strategic became one of the top losers by falling 0.9 percent to 32.68 U.S. dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 6.084 Chinese yuan and 1.27 Singapore dollars)
BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- For years, due to its steel exports, China has been the "dumping scapegoat" of the United States, a convenient excuse for the country to impose anti-dumping tariffs to protect its own sluggish steel industry.
Thus it's not surprising to see that the U.S. Commerce Department ruled on Tuesday that the cold-rolled steel flat products from China sold in the United States are "dumping," paving the way for possible punitive anti-dumping tariffs.
However, such protectionist measures won't help solve the overcapacity the U.S. steel industry is suffering from, as they don't address the core of the problem.
The slow recovery of the world economy has been causing a sluggish demand for steel products, which has led to overcapacity in the steel sector.
Under the impact of a weak global economy, China's steel industry is itself suffering from the problem of excess capacity. However, instead of dumping steel on other countries, the Chinese government and Chinese steel companies have been making tremendous efforts to cut obsolete capacity and expand domestic demand for steel products.
China has so far cut over 90 million tons of obsolete capacity during the 12th Five-Year period, and plans to slash 100-150 millon tons of crude steel production capacity over the next five years.
On the demand side, China has taken a lot of measures such as embarking upon necessary large-scale infrastructure development projects to absorb more steel. China's Belt and Road Initiative which foresees strengthening connectivity and infrastructure development of countries along the route will also fuel demand for steel.
Moreover, rather than dumping steel in other countries, the Chinese government has in recent years implemented measures such as export tariffs on some steel products to reduce exports. The export tariff for billet is 20 percent and for hot-rolled wire rod 15 percent, said Zhang Ji, China's assistant commerce minister.
In reality, Chinese steel products make up a tiny part of U.S. and European Union (EU) steel imports. As a major producer and consumer of steel, China's steel products are mainly for domestic use.
"In recent years, 85-95 percent of steel produced by China have been for domestic consumption. China's annual steel consumption accounts for 45 percent of the global total," Zhang said.
China used to be a net importer of steel before 2005 and is still the fifth-largest importer of steel in the world.
"China imported the equivalent of 13.57 million tons of crude steel in 2015," Zhang said, adding that China has thus contributed to the stable development of the global steel industry.
The high cost of manufacturing has made the U.S. steel industry less competitive in the global producing market. Amidst fierce competition of global steel producers and a weak demand, the high costs of raw materials, labor and other factors have squeezed the profits of U.S. steel makers, especially in the normal- or low-end steel category