Making headlines

Industrial profit data

The National Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to release March industrial profit data on Friday, with fast growth anticipated.

The January-February data released on March 27 showed that China’s major industrial companies’ profit totaled 968.9 billion yuan ($154 billion), up 16.1 percent year-on-year. That is 5.3 percentage points higher than in December 2017.

Major industrial companies refer to those with annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan.

Interest rate decision

The European Central Bank (ECB) is scheduled to hold its governing council meeting on Thursday, when an interest rate announcement will be made.

ECB President Mario Draghi usually holds a press conference after an interest rate meeting.

However, the research team of Erste Bank does not anticipate changes to key issues of the monetary policy, namely monetary policy instruments or the crucial statements about further development.

Oil price adjustment

China’s domestic oil price adjustment window will open on Thursday, with prices projected to slightly increase or remain unchanged, according to analysts.

Supported by stable international oil prices, the domestic oil price is more likely to grow or remain unchanged, said Li Yan, analyst with industry consultancy website oilchem. net, chinanews.com reported.