China’s industrial economy sees steady growth in first 3 quarters: officials

China's industrial and information economy remained stable in the first three quarters of the year, with the industrial structure constantly improved, officials said at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday, expressing confidence in meeting the country's annual targets.

Equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing industries saw rapid growth in the period, with their added value accounting for a higher proportion of the total added value of industrial enterprises above the designated size than the annual figure of last year.

Industrial enterprises above the designated size refer to industrial enterprises with annual revenue from principal activities reaching or above 20 million yuan (about 2.8 million U.S. dollars).

Meanwhile, industrial investment nationwide maintained double-digit growth for eight consecutive months, official data showed.

"The recent adoption and implementation of a series of policies to boost the economy will continue to unleash the impetus for industrial upgrading, the potential of residents' consumption, and the vitality of business entities. We are confident in achieving the annual targets," said Zhao Zhiguo, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Next, multiple measures, including preferential trade-in and tax policies, will be taken to stimulate auto consumption, Zhao told reporters.

"We will launch another batch of pilot zones to fully electrify vehicles in the public sector, and provide guidance for the development of new energy vehicle battery replacement models. A regulation on the management of access to auto production will be rolled out to improve the dynamic management mechanism, as some are coming in while others are going out of the list of companies with access to auto production," Zhao said.

According to the ministry, the national industry-finance cooperation platform has helped enterprises raise more than one trillion yuan (about 140 billion U.S. dollars).

In this year alone, the platform has helped enterprises raise around 290 billion yuan (about 40.7 billion U.S. dollars), up 40.7 percent year on year, the latest data showed.

"We will step up efforts to issue policy documents on financial support for new industrialization to channel more financial resources into sci-tech innovations, advanced manufacturing industries, green development, and small and medium-sized enterprises," said Tao Qing, director of the Operation Monitoring and Coordination Bureau of the MIIT.

China’s industrial economy sees steady growth in first 3 quarters: officials

U.S. stocks ended slightly lower on Monday, with modest declines across major benchmarks as investors monitored rising oil prices amid renewed uncertainty in the Middle East.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.01 percent to 49,442.56. The S and P 500 sank 0.24 percent to 7,109.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.26 percent to 24,404.39.

Six of the 11 primary S and P 500 sectors closed higher, led by materials and financials with gains of 0.56 percent and 0.34 percent, respectively. Communication services and health care were the main laggards, declining 1.41 percent and 0.93 percent, respectively.

Traders remain cautious about pricing in a worst-case scenario for the ongoing conflict, even as stocks have recovered from near-correction territory to all-time highs in recent weeks.

Oil prices jumped sharply on Monday. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery surged 6.87 percent to settle at 89.61 U.S. dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery gained 5.64 percent to settle at 95.48 dollars per barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

While investors continue to monitor developments in the Middle East, attention is expected to gradually shift back to fundamental factors, according to Scott Welch, chief investment officer at Certuity.

"It is important to remember that the market was not cheap before the war started, and the recent rally has only brought us back slightly past breakeven for the year," he said. "We expect investors will soon once again turn their attention to more fundamental issues -- valuations, earnings potential, inflation, the economy, the labor markets, and Fed policy."

Shares of most of the "Magnificent Seven" technology giants ended lower on Monday. Tesla, which is scheduled to report quarterly results on Wednesday, declined 2.03 percent.

Marvell Technology rose nearly 6 percent to an all-time high after a report over the weekend said the chipmaker was in talks to design new custom artificial intelligence chips for Google.

U.S. stocks close lower as oil prices surge on renewed Mideast tensions