Thursday, 19 October 2017

Asian markets mixed on the back of data

Posted by Valentine at 11:25 Labels:

Asia stock markets traded in multiple directions on Thursday as sentiment came under pressure following mixed economic data from China and as participants awaited more details from the 19th Communist Party Congress in Beijing.

Australia ASX +5.00 +0.08% 5,959.80 CLOSED
Shanghai Comp -11.62 -0.34% 3,370.17 CLOSED
Hang Seng Index -316.03 -1.10% 28,395.73 OPEN
Nikkei 225 +85.47 +0.40% 21,448.52 CLOSED
TSEC 50 Index +40.01 +0.37% 10,760.29 CLOSED

China said its third quarter GDP figures came in line with expectations at a 1.7 percent quarterly growth rate and a 6.8 percent expansion on yearly terms.

Also, Chinese industrial production increased 6.6 percent in September, above an initially estimated 6.2 percent build. Retail sales rose 10.3 percent, against a forecasted 10.2 percent.

Other reports included fixed asset investment, which gained 7.5 percent, falling short from an expected 7.7 percent increase.

Earlier in the session, Japan reported a trade surplus of  ¥670 billion, moving comfortably above the ¥560 billion surplus eyed for September.

These figures expose a nearly 40 percent growth from the prior year, boosted by exports of cars and chemical products, according to the finance ministry of the world’s third largest economy.

The ministry report also noted that the Nippon yen was on average 7.5 percent cheaper than the greenback in September against the previous month, which is good for exports.

In Australia, focus was directed to labor data. About 19,800 jobs added to the economy last month, compared to 15,000 seen. The unemployment rate fell from 5.6 to 5.5 percent.

On Wednesday, the bullish trend in US markets remained intact, with corporate earnings being mainly responsible for setting the tone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 23,152.92. The S&P 500 added 0.07 percent and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.01 percent.

The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report, which gauges information collected by the 12 Federal Reserve banks in the US, exposed weak wages growth and moderate inflation improvements.
Ahead in the day, traders will be looking at UK retail sales (08:30 GMT), US initial jobless claims (12:30 GMT) and a speech by FOMC member George (13:30 GMT).

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