Asia report: Most markets higher, China exports miss forecasts

Markets in Asia mostly closed in the green on Tuesday, as investors digested the latest export data out of China, showing further recovery but still falling short of expectations.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.72% at 29,751.61, as the yen strengthened 0.05% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 109.33.

Of the major components on the benchmark index, robotics specialist Fanuc was up 0.04%, Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing added 3.91%, and technology giant SoftBank Group was 0.8% firmer.

The broader Topix index managed gains of 0.2% by the end of trading in Tokyo, closing at 1,958.55.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.48% at 3,396.47, and the smaller, technology-centric Shenzhen Composite slipped 0.06% to 2,187.57.

Fresh data out of China showed exports from the country were up 30.6% year-on-year in March, a year on from the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic in the People’s Republic.

That was still well short of the 35.5% rise anticipated by economists polled by Reuters.

The country’s imports were ahead 38.1% year-on-year, meanwhile, which was well above the 23.3% pencilled in by the Reuters poll.

“Zoom boom exports remained robust, with the EU as the overall bright spot, from that perspective, while exports to the US and Asia were on the weaker side,” said Pantheon Macroeconomics chief Asia economist Freya Beamish.

“Imports continued to edge up month-on-month, even strong gains in the first two months of the year.”

Beamish said energy and metals imports “shot up”, but noted that non-commodity imports fell 3.9% month-on-month, though that was “only a partial correction” after the leaps in January and February.

“Price data are not yet available, but strong PPI gains suggest that volumes of both exports and imports fell more substantially month-on-month in March, after strong rises in January and February.”

South Korea’s Kospi was ahead 1.07% at 3,169.08, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.15% to 28,497.25.

Chinese internet behemoth Alibaba was up 0.43%, adding to its more-than-6% gains recorded on Monday.

The moves came after the People’s Bank of China said Alibaba’s affiliated financial technology company Ant Group would restructure to a financial holding company.

Alibaba was slapped with a massive $2.8bn fine over the weekend, for anticompetitive practices after an investigation by Beijing’s competition regulator.

The blue-chip technology stocks were above the waterline in Seoul, with Samsung Electronics up 0.96% and SK Hynix rising 1.45%.

Oil prices were higher as the region went to bed, with Brent crude last up 0.89% at $63.84 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate advancing 0.75% to $60.15.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 eked out gains of 0.04% to settle at 6,976.90, while across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was up 1.1% at 12,656.42.

The down under dollars were in a mixed state against the greenback, with the Aussie last 0.06% weaker at AUD 1.3125, while the Kiwi strengthened 0.07% to NZD 1.4212.