Asia close: Chinese finmin says Beijing will not overreact to any single indicator

Asian stocks tumbled overnight after remarks from China´s finance minister seemed to indicate that authorities in Beijing were taking a bit of a hands-off approach to the recent slowdown evident in the data.

Shanghai´s benchmark index dropped 1.7% to 2,289.87.

China´s finance minister, Lou Jiwei, said the country´s growth rate faces downward pressure but but reiterated there will be no major changes in policies in response to any single indicator.

The economy is expanding in a sustainable manner. Hence, policy will focus on comprehensive targets, Jiwei said.

Be that as it may, Barclays Research wrote to clients on Friday saying that it be closely watching comments out of authorities in Beijing.

HSBC will release preliminary data on the state of the Chinese manufacturing sector tomorrow morning, before the start of trading.

Japan´s Nikkei 225 fell 0.71% to 16,205.90 points.

China is one of the archipelago´s largest export destinations, so lower than expected growth there can be expected to take a toll on Japan´s exports.

Korea´s Kospi also lost 0.71% and Australia´s ASX another -1.29%. Taiwan´s Taiex as off by 1.14% at the end of trading.