More Weak Chinese Econ Data Confirms Copper Rout

Chinese economic data continues to come in on the weak side as today brought disappointing retail sales and industrial production figures. These data represent January and February cumulative totals so they should not be affected significantly by the timing of the Chinese New Year holiday. The retail sales series shows the slowest YoY growth since 2004 while the industrial production series is the weakest it's been since 2009. Perhaps unsurprisingly, industrial production growth in China boasts a relatively tight relationship with copper prices (since copper is a raw material component of almost all durable consumer products) and two seem to be confirming one another's downside breakouts.