China’s consumer prices grow 3.4% in April

China’s consumer prices grew 3.4% in April from a year earlier, government data showed Friday, an indication that inflationary pressure is moderating in the world’s second-largest economy. The growth rate of the country’s consumer price index (CPI) was up from a 3.6% on-year gain in March, according to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. The April growth rate marks the third month in a row that consumer prices have expanded less than 4%, reported the China’s Xinhua news agency . Food prices, the largest contributor to the index growth, rose 7 % in April from a year earlier, up from an increase of 7.5% reported for March. Nonfood prices rose 1.7% on-year last month, down from 1.8 % in March, while housing costs rose 1.8% on-year, slowing from a 2% gain in the previous month. Meanwhile, China’s producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 0.7% on-year in April, following the 0.3% decrease tallied a month earlier, the data showed. Market watchers said the easing trend of inflation in China will continue throughout the first half of the year. “The disinflation will continue due to lower retail fuel and food prices, coupled with the cooling property market. The trough is likely by midyear,” said Moody’s Analytics. “Increased energy prices, in particular for electricity, are putting a floor under producer prices and will ensure a return to inflation in the second half of the year.”