The Day at a Glance | March 31 2021

The Top

Recovery in China accelerated during March.

Biden`s economic plan will be presented in Pittsburgh today; the plan entails 2.25 trillion dollars of spending throughout 8 years and an increase in corporate taxes from 21% to 28%.

Private enterprises created 517 thousand new jobs during March in the United States, according to the ADP (vs 550 thousand e.).

Crude oil production in Mexico grew 1% to an average of 1.66 million daily barrels during February.

Economic environment

China`s economic recovery continued throughout March and was boosted by an improvement in the services sector`s figures. The official PMI figure for services in China recorded a strong acceleration during the month and exceeded estimates by advancing from 51.4 in February to 56.3 in March (vs 52 e.), their highest level in the last 4 months. Meanwhile, manufacturing activities accelerated to 51.9 (vs 51.2 e.), their highest level in the last 3 months. The rebound in these indicators is due to the economy`s return to productive levels after the Chinese Lunar New Year, which led the Composite PMI to reach 55.3 and marked the world`s second largest economy`s return to a firm level of economic recovery (the indicator shows expansion when set above 50). Nevertheless, there are doubts of the Chinese economy`s capacity to sustain this rate of recovery for a long period of time: The manufacturing sector and exports (boosted by demand for technology and medical equipment) could weaken once the global pandemic passes, while a less favorable fiscal and monetary policy could decrease the recovery`s strength in construction and investment. Besides this, signs of inflationary pressures in surveys have drawn some attention. Several companies reported that the procurement of raw materials has been insufficient and has increased prices of inputs and waiting times due to new outbreaks outside of the country and disruptions in trade. During the last decade, China was an important source of low levels of inflation at a worldwide level given the fact that its low-cost products flooded the global market.