China's factory and property investment surged, fueling speculation that an interest-rate increase is imminent after exports, industrial production and inflation accelerated.

Related readings:  Inflation hits 27-month high with CPI up 3.4%  Fast industrial growth increases pressure for rates hike  China's retail sales accelerate on rising incomes  Experts divided on another interest rate hike  Fixed-asset investment up 25.5%

Fixed-asset investment in urban areas rose 25.9 percent in the first five months from a year earlier to 3.2 trillion yuan ($420 billion), the statistics bureau said in Beijing today. The increase was 25.5 percent in the first four months.  

"The economy is absolutely booming and after a brief correction the stock market has taken off again," said Jing Ulrich, chairwoman of China equities at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Hong Kong. "Clearly the central bank has a tightening bias after this week's economic data."

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