Asia report: Markets finish lower on disappointing China, Japan data
Markets in Asia finished lower on Wednesday, after disappointing data came out of China and Japan.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.44% at 22,068.24, as the yen strengthened 0.3% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 107.01.
The country’s industrial output figures missed expectations for January, declining 6.6% month-on-month.
A Reuters-polled forecast was anticipating a fall of 4.2%.
Carmakers, financial plays, manufacturers and technology names were all in the red, with Fast Retailing down 2.52%, Honda Motor off 2.19% and SoftBank falling 2.39%.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.99% at 3,259.50, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite managed to post gains of 0.16%.
China’s official manufacturing PMI for February came in at 50.3, missing the 51.2 forecast by Reuters and well below the 51.3 reading released in January.
South Korea’s Kospi was off 1.17% at 2,427.36, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slipped 1.36% to 30,844.72.
Samsung Electronics reversed earlier gains to finish 0.68% lower in Seoul, while carmakers and technology plays were all broadly in the red as well.
Oil prices were lower, with Brent crude last down 0.21% at $66.49 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate falling 0.16% to $62.91.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.68% to 6,016.00, dragged under by gold producers and the telecoms subindex, as well as the hefty financials sector which fell 0.55%.
Among the major miners, BHP was down 1.96% and Rio Tinto slid 0.55% in Sydney trading.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 lost 0.2% to close at 8,373.82, led lower by subscription broadcaster Sky, which sank 9.6% to a 10-week low.
The company recently took an axe to its prices in a bid to stem the flow of customers away from its services, and cut its interim dividend in half.
The down under dollars were mixed, with the Aussie last 0.32% stronger against the greenback at AUD 1.2797 and the Kiwi retreating 0.2% to NZD 1.3849.