Fortunes vanish in China

<p>Kia ora,</p><p>Welcome to Wednesday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect New Zealand.</p><p>I'm David Chaston and this is the International edition from Interest.co.nz.</p><p>Today we lead with news investors are worried about their tech investments and the upcoming earnings reports. And they are watching the China equity rout with alarm.</p><p>But first in the US, <a href="https://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/adv/pdf/durgd.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>durable goods orders</strong></a> for June came in much weaker than expected. There was a +0.8% rise recorded from May, but a +2.1% rise was expected, and the May rise was +3.2%. If there is a silver lining, it is that non-defence order for capital goods rose faster, up +3.1%.</p><p>That key June data may have disappointed analysts, but consumers are feeling bullish, at least according to the widely-watched <a href="https://conference-board.org/data/consumerconfidence.cfm" target="_blank"><strong>Conference Board survey</strong></a>. It is now at a 17 month high so back to pre-pandemic levels.</p><p>And no-one told the survey respondents in the Richmond Fed district either who <a href="https://www.richmondfed.org/-/media/richmondfedorg/research/regional_economy/surveys_of_business_conditions/manufacturing/2021/pdf/mfg_07_27_21.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>reported</strong></a> strong employment gains in July and continuing high levels of new orders - and their June survey results were revised sharply higher. Cost and pricing pressures remain very elevated.</p><p>The American <a href="https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>home ownership rate</strong></a> fell marginally to 65.4%. This rate has been on an upward trend since peaking low at 2015 (although it did spike up in 2020 during the pandemic). The New Zealand home ownership rate is currently 64.5%.</p><p>Across the Pacific, <a href="http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/202107/t20210727_1819877.html" target="_blank"><strong>C