China is expected to release its September trade data, one of the country's most reliable economic indicators, this weekend.
Here's what to expect:
Exports
Bank of America's Ting Lu expects exports to climb 1 percent year-over-year (YoY) in September. This is down from 2.7 percent in August, and against the 5.5 percent, according to a consensus of Bloomberg analysts.
Lu writes that exports are likely to stay in the low single digits or even close to zero for a few months because of the slowdown in Europe and the U.S..
Imports
Lu expects imports to climb 1.5 percent YoY in September, up from -2.7 percent in August. The consensus of Bloomberg analysts expect imports to rise 2.4 percent on the year.
Analysts watch import and export data because they can both be independently verified by comparing it with trade numbers reported by other countries. Moreover, SocGen's Wei Yao has pointed out that it is an important data point for China hard/soft landing watchers since it has a tremendous domestic component and shows the state of domestic demand growth.
Trade balance
Lu expects the trade balance to narrow to $26.2 billion in September, from $26.7 billion in August. Economists polled by Bloomberg expect trade balance to shrink to $20.54 billion.
SEE ALSO: 15 American States That Would Get Slammed In A Trade War With China >
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