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China air-cargo volume drops

China Eastern Airlines led losses in the nation’s shares traded in New York after a report showed the industry’s cargo volume declined last month, the latest sign that the world’s second-biggest economy is slowing.

The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most-traded Chinese stocks in the US slipped 0.5 per cent to 102.10 on Friday, retreating from a four-week high. China Eastern, the nation’s third-biggest carrier by sales, tumbled 4.3 per cent, while China Southern Airlines slumped for a second day. Online clothing retailer Vipshop Holdings slid after buying a stake in a cosmetic-product developer.

While the number of passengers carried by Chinese airlines jumped 19 per cent in January from a year earlier, cargo volume fell 1.8 per cent, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on its website on Friday.

Earlier last week, a report showing a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing added to concern the economy is faltering.

“Freight and passenger data are good indicators of economic activity,” Charlie Awdry, portfolio manager of Henderson Global Investors’ £378 million ($630 million) China Opportunities Fund, said by phone from London. “It does look the economy is going through a soft touch.”

The iShares China Large-Cap ETF, the largest Chinese exchange-traded fund in the US, added 0.2 per cent to $35.74, trimming a weekly drop to 0.1 per cent.

American depositary receipts of China Eastern, based in Shanghai, tumbled to $18.53, dropping the most in two months. Guangzhou-based China Southern, Asia’s biggest carrier by passenger numbers, slid 1.8 per cent to $17.63, extending its loss this week to 3.2 per cent.

Vipshop, which sells fashion online at discounts and is also based in Guangzhou, declined 3.9 per cent to $110 in New York, the most in two weeks.