Asian stocks hover near 3-yr lows on weak China data

By FXStreet FXStreet (Mumbai) – Stocks on the Asian bourses trade mixed and hover around their lowest level since 2012 this Tuesday, with the sentiment gradually deteriorating as markets come to terms with the dismal Chinese economic data released last hours.

China’s economy fell to 6.8% in Q4 2015, down from the 6.9% registered in the previous quarter and against 6.9% growth expected. While China’s industrial production dropped 5.9% versus 6.0% expected, and retail sales also came in a tad weaker than estimates at 11.1% versus 11.3% expected and 11.2% previous.

China stocks turn lower post-China data

The Japanese stocks halted the initial rebound and fell back in the red as sentiment soured after the sluggish China’s macro news added to the ongoing concerns over the health of the world’s second largest economy. Meanwhile, USD/JPY trades almost unchanged at 117.30 and the Nikkei drops -0.84% to 16,812.

The Australian stocks are also seen paring gains, with the S&P/ASX 200 index now gaining 0.33% to 4,874. The index came under renewed selling pressure as weaker China data weighed on the commodities’ prices as well and dragged the resource and energy stocks lower.

The Chinese markets continue to waver between gains and losses, as markets were once …read more

Source:: FX Street