Asia report: Markets mixed as China GDP growth slows further

Markets in Asia finished in a mixed state on Monday, as investors reacted to fresh GDP data from China which suggested a seriously slow rate of growth for the world’s second-largest economy.

In Japan, markets remained closed for a public holiday, as the yen weakened 0.03% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 107.94.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was 0.4% higher at 2,942.19, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite rose 1% to 1,572.34.

China’s second-quarter GDP data, which was released on Monday, showed that economic growth slowed to 6.2% year-on-year in the People’s Republic - the slowest rate in more than 27 years.

The figure didn’t do much to disappoint investors, however, with analysts polled by Reuters picking such a figure ahead of the release, and other data pointing to some buoyancy in the economy.

“Other data showed that the emerging market giant stepped up production and investment,” noted London Capital Group senior market analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

“Fixed assets investment excluding rural assets increased from 5.6% to 5.8% between January and June, as the industrial production surged from 5.0% y-o-y to 6.3%.”

Ozkardeskaya said retail sales jumped to 9.8% from 8.6% as well.

“The slowdown in Chinese economy leads to think that China is giving a solid support to the economy to soften the impact of the trade war with the US and will certainly continue doing so in the coming quarters.”

South Korea’s Kospi was off 0.2% at 2,082.48, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong managed gains of 0.29% to close at 28,554.88.

The special administrative region suffered another weekend of clashes between protestors and police over a controversial bill which would allow Beijing to extradite residents of Hong Kong to the mainland.

It has faced serious opposition from Hong Kongers, even after the region’s chief executive Carrie Lam said the bill would be shelved until the end of the current administrative session - a move which did not go far enough for the bill’s opponents, who wanted an all-out cancellation.

Also in Hong Kong, brewing giant Anheuser-Busch cancelled the Budweiser initial public offering, which had been set to be the world’s biggest listing this year.

The blue-chip technology stocks in Seoul were both in the green, with Samsung Electronics up 0.32%, and chipmaker SK Hynix rising 2.01%.

Oil prices were higher as the region went to bed, with Brent crude last up 0.27% at $66.90 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate ahead 0.22% at $60.34.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.65% to settle at 6,653.00, as shares of wealth management company AMP plunged 15.81%.

The firm had reported that it was “highly unlikely to proceed” with the proposed sale of its life insurance and wealth protection division.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was down 0.3% at 10,666.56, led lower by electricity generator and retailer Meridian, which was off 3.1%.

Wellington-listed shares in AMP, which is not a constituent of the NZX benchmark, plunged in unison with the Sydney stock, falling 14%.

Both of the down under dollars were stronger on the greenback, with the Aussie last ahead 0.13% at AUD 1.4227, and the Kiwi advancing 0.49% to NZD 1.4867.