Asia report: Most markets lower as China data disappoints

Almost all markets in Asia finished lower on Tuesday, as investors sifted through a barrage of disappointing economic data out of China.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 finished flat, losing just 0.98 points to 22,380.01, as the yen gained 0.02% on the dollar to last trade at JPY 113.60.

Losses were heaviest in energy plays and trading houses, which were balanced by solid gains in a number of technology stocks.

Sharp finished the day ahead 2.91%, while Toshiba was up 4.66%.

Mizuho Financial Group lost 1.04% after it reported a 12% decline in quarterly net profit to JPY 198.4bn, as a result of ultra-low interest rates.

Telecoms investment giant SoftBank confirmed it was considering an investment in minicab app Uber on Tuesday, though no agreements or decisions had been reached.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.52% at 3,429.97, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite finished 0.95% lower at 2,025.78.

Fresh data from Beijing on Tuesday showed a slowdown in the country’s fixed asset investment growth for the January-to-October period to 7.3% - just short of the 7.4% predicted by a Reuters poll.

Retail sales in China were ahead 10% year-on-year in October, shy of the 10.4% projection, while industrial output was ahead 6.2%, again falling short of projections, which had the reading at 6.3%.

South Korea’s Kospi was off 0.15% at 2,526.64, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 0.1% softer at 29,152.12.

US tax reform was once again on the agenda as well, as president Donald Trump waded into the debate, calling for additional amendments to the Republican plan.

Using his preferred medium of Twitter, Trump suggested the repeal of an Obamacare requirement for almost all Americans to purchase medical insurance.

Doing so would allow the top federal income tax rate to be slashed to 35%, giving “all the rest” to middle income tax cuts, Trump claimed.

The tweets were another spanner in the works of US tax reform, with two competing bills currently being pitched by Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate, respectively.

Oil prices were lower during Asian trading, with Brent crude last down 0.56% at $62.81 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate off 0.5% at $56.48.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.88% to close at 5,969.75, pulled lower by the hefty financials subindex, as well as the resources and energy sectors.

National Australia Bank was off 1.44% and Rio Tinto fell 0.96%, while Santos was off 2.18% on the back of falling crude prices.

Woodside Petroleum slid 3.23%, after reports Shell Energy Holdings Australia had sold its AUD 3.5bn stake in the firm.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 bucked the regional trend to finish ahead 0.4% at 8,008, led higher by fuel refiner and retailer Z Energy and commercial property firm Precinct.

The two stocks were up 3.5% and 2.3% respectively.

It was a mixed picture for the down under dollars, with the Aussie last 0.12% stronger on the greenback at AUD 1.3101, while the Kiwi weakened 0.43% to NZD 1.4548.