China's wholesale inflation plunges

Softening global commodity prices sent China's wholesale inflation sharply lower in October, giving the Beijing government some headroom for taking aggressive policy steps to stimulate one of the world's top economies. Wholesale inflation in China declined to 6.6% in October from a year earlier, reflecting declines in industrial commodity prices. October's data marked the second straight month of declines in the producer price index (PPI), following readings of 10.1% in August and 9.1% in September. Wholesale inflation from January to October climbed 8.2% from a year earlier. The PPI data was released by the National Bureau of Statistics today. The weaker wholesale inflation suggest that the October consumer price index (CPI), due to be released later this week, would also moderate, which will mark the sixth straight monthly decline. China's CPI rose 4.6% in September, edging lower for the fifth straight month.