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Shares in Asia slipped in Monday morning trade.
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China saw a faster-than-expected GDP growth in the first quarter, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday, despite parts of the country being hit by Covid lockdowns in March.
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Markets in Australia and Hong Kong are closed on Monday for a holiday.
SINGAPORE — Shares in Japan led losses as Asia markets slipped in Monday morning trade, with investors reacting to the release of Chinese economic data, including first-quarter gross domestic product figures.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.8% in morning trade as shares of Fast Retailing and SoftBank Group declined more than 1% each. The Topix index shed 1.59%.
Mainland Chinese stocks were also lower, with the Shanghai composite down 0.88% and the Shenzhen component shedding 0.733%.
China saw faster-than-expected GDP growth in the first quarter, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday. First-quarter GDP in China rose 4.8%, above expectations for a 4.4% year-over-year increase.
Retail sales, however, fell by a more-than-anticipated 3.5% as compared with a year earlier. That was against expectations for a 1.6% fall in a Reuters poll.
The data come as mainland China has for weeks been battling its worst Covid wave in two years. In particular, the major city of Shanghai has been among the areas most affected.
| TICKER | COMPANY | NAME | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .N225 | Nikkei 225 Index | *NIKKEI | 26577.47 | -515.72 | -1.9 |
| .HSI | Hang Seng Index | *HSI | 21518.08 | 143.71 | 0.67 |
| .AXJO | S&P/ASX 200 | *ASX 200 | 7523.4 | 44.4 | 0.59 |
| .SSEC | Shanghai | *SHANGHAI | 3186.67 | -24.58 | -0.77 |
| .KS11 | KOSPI Index | *KOSPI | 2693.83 | -2.23 | -0.08 |
| .FTFCNBCA | CNBC 100 ASIA IDX | *CNBC 100 | 8823.27 | -53.32 | -0.6 |
South Korea‘s Kospi dipped fractionally. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.35% lower.
Asia markets may “tread carefully to start the week” as investors digest the People‘s Bank of China’s recent reserve requirement ratio cut, analysts at Singapores OCBC Treasury Research wrote in a Monday note. The RRR is the amount of funds banks need to hold in reserve.
“This is the smallest cut since China unveiled the reform on reserve requirement ratio in 1998,” the analysts said.
On Friday, the Chinese central bank also unexpectedly held steady on a key interest rate, despite anticipation for more stimulus.
Markets in Australia and Hong Kong are closed on Monday for a holiday.
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Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 100.553 — continuing to hold above the 100.4 level after a recent bounce from below 100.
The Japanese yen traded at 126.47 per dollar after weakening last week from below 125 against the greenback. The Australian dollar was at $0.7385, lower as compared with levels above $0.747 seen last week.
Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 1.32% to $113.18 per barrel. U.S. crude futures climbed 1.2% to $108.23 per barrel.