China factory price inflation eases in July
China's factory prices fell at a slower pace in July as oil prices and industrial activity rose, fuelling signs of recovery in the world's second-biggest economy.
The country's producer price index fell 2.4% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The reading was an improvement on June's 3% decline and was slightly better than the 2.5% drop expected in a Reuters poll of economists.
Rising global oil prices pushed up prices for petroleum and natural gas extraction 12% in July from the month before. Coal and car manufacturing prices also rose.
Producer prices rose 0.4% overall on a monthly basis in July, the same increase as in June.
China's consumer inflation picked up in July as bad weather sent food prices higher. The consumer price index rose 2.7% from a year earlier, the strongest increase for three months as pork prices rose 86% from June. Excluding food and energy, core inflation was up just 0.5% from a year earlier in July.