Weaknesses show up in most major economies

<p>Kia ora,</p><p>Welcome to Tuesday’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>And today we lead with news the pressure remains on the Chinese economy and Beijing seems committed to tough it out without its usual debt-inducing stimulus strategies.</p><p>But mainland China equities as well as those in Hong Kong jumped more than +1% yesterday after Beijing announced new measures to boost its capital markets, including <a href="http://szs.mof.gov.cn/zhengcefabu/202308/t20230827_3904226.htm" target="_blank"><strong>halving the stamp duty on stock trading</strong></a>, and they were effective immediately. But they opened up +5.5% and it was downward from there, so questions are being asked if this can last much more than a day or two.</p><p>Yesterday we noted that factories are under pressure in China because export order flows are drying up. Today we can note that this is heaping pressure on factory owners and their workers. <a href="https://clb.org.hk/en" target="_blank"><strong>Strikes, accidents and staff seeking help</strong></a> with their employment situation are rising now.</p><p>In the US, the <a href="https://www.dallasfed.org/research/surveys/tmos/2023/2308" target="_blank"><strong>Dallas Fed factory survey</strong></a> posted negative indications although these were less than in July, and in fact the least negative in five months. Employment growth slowed, but at least it is growth. New order levels aren't back positive yet, so it is no surprise that in this region, one dominated by the oil patch, the future general business activity index is negative too.</p><p>In Europe, the tight policies of the ECB designed to quell inflation are having a tough impact on <a href="https://www.ecb.europa.eu/"><strong>new lending</strong></a>, especially new lending to companies. Yes, lending grew in July, but at its slowest pace since 2015.</p><p>In Australia, <a href="https://ww