Bond market losses swell

<p>Kia ora,</p><p>Welcome to Monday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.</p><p>I'm David Chaston and this is the International edition from Interest.co.nz.</p><p>Today we lead with news there is a global bond selloff underway which we will be watching in the run-up to the end of the month. Bond investors are nursing huge losses as the bond market enters a bear phase, the scale of which we haven't seen in nearly 40 years.</p><p>But first up, China <a href="http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/202203/t20220327_1829058.html" target="_blank"><strong>reported</strong></a> that in the first two months of 2022, profits at private businesses fell almost -2% compared to the same period last year. Profits of foreign companies fell more than -7%. But their state-owned enterprises reported a more than +16% rise, most of which came from "mining" (read coal). The net result over all this is a +5% rise.</p><p>Bigger sales and higher prices are producing <a href="http://static.sse.com.cn/disclosure/listedinfo/announcement/c/new/2022-03-25/601898_20220325_4_ghwpLFHC.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>a bonanza for coal miners</strong></a> there. <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/coal" target="_blank"><strong>The coal price</strong></a> has more than doubled in 2022 so far, and they more than tripled in 2021. China is <a href="https://www.yuantalks.com/chinas-coal-power-capacity-to-grow-further-by-average-3-per-year-by-2025-industry-association/" target="_blank"><strong>planning more</strong></a> coal output and more coal-fired power stations, at least through 2025. Beijing seems to be the green-washing capital of the world when it claims it is tackling climate change.</p><p>Future industrial profits outside the coal industry might be a challenge in the face of the growing spread pandemic. Shanghai has now <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3172061/shanghai-orders-mass-pudong-lockdown-push-contain-covid-19-surge" target="_blank"><strong>ordered