Asia: Stocks mixed after Chinese trade data

Asian stocks were mixed after a report showed the Chinese exports and imports rose more than forecast in September.

Chinese exports jumped 15.3% after a 9.4% in August, beating expectations for a 12% increase. Imports grew 7% in September, compared to 2.4% fall a month earlier and analysts’ estimates for a 2% drop.

The trade surplus came in at $31bn for the month.

The data comes as the Chinese government struggles to meet its economic growth target of 7.5% this year.

“Despite a loosening of mortgage controls, oversupply looks set to continue to weigh on property construction for quite some time and subdued commodity demand is likely to remain a drag on import growth going forward,” according to Capital Economics.

“As a result, we expect China to continue to post large trade surpluses, which should put further upwards pressure on the renminbi.”

Elsewhere in China, protests in Hong Kong continued with demonstrators asking for full voting rights in the next leadership election in 2017.

Despite the unrest, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index finished up 0.24%. The Shanghai composite, on the other hand, fell 0.36%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.15%.

In corporate news, Agile Property Holdings slumped in Hong Kong as suspension of its shares was lifted after the Chinese developer said its chairman had been confined by order of prosecutors.

China Taiping Insurance Holdings dropped after announcing a rights offer.