| | | Asian stocks deflated by soft China inflation data
See Kit Tang | @SeeKit_T | 5 Hours Ago
Asian shares declined on Tuesday after data showed consumer inflation in China cooled more than expected last month, adding to concerns about the health of the world's second-biggest economy.
China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.6 percent in September from a year earlier, against forecasts of a 1.8 percent rise from a Reuters poll and following August's 2 percent gain.
The producer price index (PPI) fell 5.9 percent, in line with expectations and after a 5.9 percent fall in the previous month. The PPI, which measures wholesale prices, clocked its 43rd straight month of decline.
The raft of inflation data follows official data released on Tuesday that showed the country's dollar-denominated imports plunged 20.4 percent in September to chalk up the 11th consecutive month of decline, while exports fell 3.7 percent from a year earlier.
"The positive emerging price pressures seen in the August data are increasingly looking like a one-off. Food and consumer goods prices eased noticeably from August, which is a negative for Chinese consumption – one of the bright spots in China's slowing economy. This slowdown was further emphasised in the Core CPI number (ex-food and energy) which slowed to its weakest reading since May," IG's market analyst Angus Nicholson wrote in a note released Wednesday.
Shares were also dampened by a sizeable retreat in oil-related counters, as oversupply concerns weighed on energy prices. In early Asian trade, front-month Brent for November delivery ticked up 0.2 percent to $49.34 a barrel, while U.S. crude added 0.4 percent, to $46.85 a barrel.
Meanwhile, major U.S. averages fell overnight as investors weighed slight declines in oil prices and further indications of a persistent slowdown in China's economy. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average broke a seven-day winning streak by ending down 0.3 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.7 and 0.9 percent respectively.
More at cnbc.com |
|
