Growth Forecasts: Data and Percent

growth forecasts: The data knocked Chinese stocks off the 20-month highs hit earlier in the week, with mainland equity indexes plunging more than 4 percent in their worst day in five months, according to The Japan Times. Japan's Nikkei. closed 2 percent lower. The February data out of Beijing came in well below expectations of a 4.8 percent drop and worsened the already brittle mood on world markets, after European Central Bank slashed growth forecasts and unveiled a new round of policy stimulus on Thursday. ; While the timing of the Lunar New Year made it difficult to draw a true signal from the China data noise, the scale of the drop was alarming, especially when coupled with somber new data from Germany and Norway. The dark mood spilled into European stock markets where the STOXX 600 index slipped 0.7 percent, poised for the first weekly drop in a month. Our own view is that the Chinese economy is slower than people generally think, but I think the world economy is probably slower than people think. The trade data from China is a big part of it, said Fiera Capital's co-chief Investment Officer Julian Mayo. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.