China's inflation slowed to an 18-month low.

 China's inflation falls of 1.8% on year in April from 2.4% in March and came in below consensus of 2%. Factory-gate prices (PPI) dropped for the 26th consecutive month with a decline of 2%. With other data indicating that China's economy is slowing down, economists attributed the fall in CPI to a weakness in demand. Today's data has increased expectations that the government will further ease monetary and fiscal policy.