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Asia report: Markets mixed as Chinese data trumps expectations

By Duncan Ferris

Date: Wednesday 17 Apr 2019

Asia report: Markets mixed as Chinese data trumps expectations

(Sharecast News) - Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday, though the main Chinese indices performed particularly well after the National Bureau of Statistics announced that Asia\'s largest economy grew at an annual pace of 6.4% during the first quarter, suggesting that government efforts to counteract a slowdown could be working.
Growth in the first three months of 2019 beat analysts\' expectations but met government targets for a pace of expansion of between 6% and 6.5% in the quarter following billions of dollars in the form of tax cuts and infrastructure spending.

A separate report from the NBS put the year-on-year rate of growth of industrial value-added at 8.5%, up from 5.3% for the month before (consensus: 5.9%), and that of retail sales at 8.7% (consensus: 8.4%).

By the end of the trading day, Japan\'s Nikkei 225 was up 0.25%, hitting a three-month high of 22,277.97 after shares of Rakuten, often referred to as Japan\'s Amazon, leapt by over 10% after enabling customers to register for its upcoming cryptocurrency exchange, while stock in car manufacturing heavyweight Toyota gained 2%.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen was down 0.02% against the US dollar at JPY112.02.

China\'s Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.29% to 3,263.12 and the tech-heavy Shenzhen Composite rose by 0.72% to 1,772.71 following the the latest batch of economic figures.

Investor sentiment got another shot in the arm from data released overnight showing that house prices in China rose in March, bolstering hopes that a slowdown in the property sector may be abating.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: \"Industrial production rose a healthy 8.5%, ahead of the 5.9% expected, which will assuage some fears after Jan-Feb industrial profits declined 14%. Trump\'s move to not raise tariffs in March seems to have made a big difference, as does government stimulus. Nevertheless, despite these better figs, we should remind ourselves that China is growing at its weakest pace in about three decades.\"



Stocks from the motor and new energy vehicle sectors were particularly strong performers, with shares of Liaoning Hongyang Energy Resource Invest up by more than 10% and Lifan Industry following close behind.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng index was down 0.02% at 30,124.68, while South Korea\'s Kospi dropped by 0.12% to 2,245.89, ending 13 successive sessions of gains as electronics giant LG Electronics dropped by almost 3% and index bellweather Samsung Electronics fell by 0.4%.

Brent Crude prices were up 0.65% at $72.19, while WTI was up 0.59% at $64.43.

Down under, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.33% at 6,256.40 as even as paint maker DuluxGroup shot up by more than 26% on the news that its board support a $2.7bn takeover bid from Japan\'s Nippon Paint.

However, mining giant BHP dropped almost 3% as it reported declines in petroleum, iron ore, and metallurgical coal production during the first quarter.

Fortescue Metals also sank on the news that mining giant Vale has been given the go-ahead to resume operations at its Brucutu mine in Brazil following the Brumadinho dam disaster, stoking investor fears that iron prices might drop due to increased supply.

New Zealand\'s S&P/NZX 50 was up 0.75% at 9,982.24 as retirement village operators Summerset Group and Metlifecare both climbed by almost 4% on the back of the government\'s decision to ditch a capital gains tax after the proposals failed to garner coalition support.

The Australian dollar was up 0.31% against the dollar at AU$1.39 and New Zealand\'s dollar dropped 0.37% against the greenback to NZ$1.48.

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