China industrial profit hits two-year low

China’s industrial profits fell the most in two years last month, the latest data to show a deepening slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy as pressure grows on the nation’s central bank to ease monetary conditions.

Total profits of China’s industrial enterprises in November dropped 4.2 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday in Beijing. That followed October’s 2.1 percent decline and a 0.4 percent increase in September. It’s the biggest slide since August 2012, when profits slumped 6.2 percent.

Mired in industrial overcapacity, factory-gate deflation and a housing slump, China is headed for its slowest full-year economic expansion since 1990. A Chinese factory index fell to a seven-month low in December, while growth in aggregate financing, the broadest gauge of credit, trailed estimates in November, and imports unexpectedly dropped amid weak demand.

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rallied 2.8 percent Friday ― extending a two-day gain to 6.2 percent, the strongest in five years ― amid speculation the government will further ease monetary policy to support the economy after cutting interest rates last month.

The People’s Bank of China may start including in calculations of loan-to-deposit ratios any cash banks hold for nondeposit-taking financial institutions, Reuters reported Friday, citing unidentified people. The report comes after people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this week that lenders won’t be required to set aside reserves for such holdings. (Bloomberg)