Asia: Most stocks down, China rises thanks to strong exports

Most Asian stocks were down on Monday despite upbeat data from China, on fears that the US Federal Reserve will raise its interest rates prematurely.

Japanese Nikkei 225 fell 0.95% after the release of weaker than expected data. Gross domestic product came in at 0.4%, lower than the previous quarter and lower than the 0.6% expected.

Analysts expect more stimulus into the Japanese economy. James Hughes, chief market analyst at eToro said, however, "leadership in Japan will of course be reluctant to move add anything else in the way of QE to the stagnant economy".

Japan also revised down its GDP growth to an annualised 1.5% during the last quarter from a preliminary reading of 2.2%.

On a more positive note, China's Shanghai finished higher at 1.89% thanks to upbeat exports data on Sunday. Exports rose 48.3% in February from -3.3% the month before. Forecasts expected an increase of 14.2%.

CMC Markets analysts said the results raised concerns "over the health of domestic demand inside China and its implication for global growth".

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.17% despite news that banks could enter the brokerage business, according to the Chinese securities regulator.

In company news, Hong Kong's Industrial & Commercial Bank of China gained 0.9% following the reform plans.

Chinese Industrial Bank rose 8.65% after reports of an acquisition of Huafu Securities.