Core Insights - The overall price trend shows marginal improvement in September, with CPI year-on-year rising from -0.4% to -0.3%, while core CPI increased to 1% [2][12] - The GDP deflator index for Q3 is expected to improve from -1.2% to -0.9%, supporting nominal growth stabilization [2][9] - Core CPI's rise is primarily driven by core goods, which saw a significant year-on-year increase of 1.8% in September, the highest since 2021 [4][13] CPI Analysis - The CPI year-on-year decline of 0.3% is influenced by food prices, which worsened from -4.3% to -4.4%, while energy prices improved from -3.1% to -2.7% [19][22] - Core CPI rose to 1.0%, marking five consecutive months of increase, with core goods contributing significantly to this rise [19][20] - Key contributors to core CPI include household appliances (up 5.5%), gold jewelry (up 42.1%), and communication tools (up 1.5%) [19][20] PPI Analysis - PPI remained flat month-on-month after eight months of decline, with a year-on-year decrease narrowing from -2.9% to -2.3% [28][31] - The stabilization in PPI is attributed to improved supply-demand dynamics in certain sectors, particularly coal, steel, and photovoltaic industries [28][32] - Input factors have led to price declines in oil-related sectors, while midstream manufacturing sectors like computer communication and automotive manufacturing continue to show weakness [31][32] Implications and Insights - The consumer goods replacement policy has positively impacted retail consumption and price recovery, although recent funding for this policy is depleting [5][16] - Broader consumer price trends indicate that the CPI may not fully reflect the underlying strength in various sectors, suggesting ongoing economic recovery [5][16] - The recovery of rental prices is crucial for the mid-term upward adjustment of core CPI, given its significant weight in the index [6][16]