China’s broad budget expenditure shrank at a faster clip amid an unprecedented drop in income earned by local governments from land sales, an alarming sign for an economy desperately in need of fiscal support.

Despite the challenges, China’s policymakers have seemed unwilling to deploy a stimulus package to jumpstart growth.

The longest-running measure of consumer confidence fell sharply in September, raising concerns about whether government rhetoric about Budget "pain" has spooked people. GfK's Consumer Confidence Index had been recovering after years of rolling crises,