Asia: Stocks lower after worse-than-expected Japanese machine orders

Asian stocks were lower on Thursday following negative data from Japan and as fears about falling oil prices hurt sentiment.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.89% after worse-than-expected machine orders data. Capital spending by companies decreased by 6.4% in October, compared to forecasts for a 1.7% drop and the previous month's 2.9% growth.

"This may suggest that confidence in the economic outlook and by extension, Abenomics, is faltering which would be very worrying," Craig Erlam, market analyst from Alpari UK, commented.

In China, stocks were down 0.49% after disappointing consumer price inflation data released on Wednesday, which unexpectedly fell to 1.4% in November from 1.6% the previous month.

On a more positive note for markets, China has reportedly told banks to issue more loans in the final months of 2014 to boost lending.

The People’s Bank of China has also relaxed limits on banks’ loan-to-deposit ratios and is allowing lenders to give out a record 10trn yuan (£1.03trn) in loans over 2014 as a whole, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the central bank is reporting pumping about 400bn yuan into the banking system, in an effort to lift banks’ lending abilities to grow the economy.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.90% as oil prices reached a five-year low on Wednesday, raising concerns about deflation. Brent dipped below $65 a barrel after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its demand forecast for next year.