Some positive news for China amid rising trade tensions with Trump – China’s services sector showed further signs of improvement in April. Caixin/Markit services PMI posted a jump to 54.5 for this month, slightly higher than the 54.4 in March. This is the highest this figure has touched since January 2018.

While official data released last week suggested a bit of slowdown in the services sector, today’s data release shows that this sector continues to grow strong. Given that this sector accounts for over half of the Chinese economy, this news is definitely a shot in the arm for China.

Meanwhile, the composite manufacturing and services PMI has fallen to 52.7 in April from 52.9 previously, showing a slowdown in the manufacturing sector. Slow expansion of factory activity in the country has caused the drop in manufacturing numbers.

The government has increased fiscal stimulus into the markets to revive the economy, but its full effect is yet to be felt in the Chinese markets.