Downbeat China economic data puts global equities under pressure as US yields continue to climb

Chinese yuan extends depreciation, indicating growing concerns about China growth outlook and garnering more attention in global markets. USDCNY has exceeded the 7.28 mark:Data on industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment, and unemployment released today came in significantly weaker than expected:The People's Bank of China also announced today that it is reducing the one-year loan prime rate for banks from 2.65% to 2.5%. However, this failed to stem progression of pessimism: European markets opened with declines, and bearish sentiment continued to dominate. Bad China news slashed 1-1.3% from key European equity indices. US equity futures saw declines as well on signs that risk-off sentiments spreads to global markets, raising the risk that today's American session could be marked by sell-off.UK labor market data were disappointing. The number of jobs added was lower than forecasts, and unemployment increased. Interestingly, wage growth was higher, presenting a somewhat conflicting picture of the labor market and putting the Bank of England in a challenging situation regarding its September rate decision. It's evident that the labor market is cooling, but its potential to fuel inflation, as it seems, remains intact. The technical analysis on GBPUSD is worth noting:A bearish retracement within the ascending trend (from October 2022) has led to a breach of the main ascending trendline, which could only contribute to the development of bearish momentum and, consequently, increase the risk for long positions, a realization that Pound investors are likely having. From a fundamental analysis perspective, the risk of a negative external backdrop for the pound is growing – the spillover of Chinese slowdown to countries actively trading with China, along with the continuous rise in US yields. The target for the currency pair could be a test of the sloping support line, which previously served as resistance. This would correspond to the area of 1.245-1.25.