Asian stocks slipped as Chinese equities tumbled after a report showed the slowest increase in the nation’s money supply on record, underscoring risks of a deepening slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 regained 86.65 points, or 0.6%, to 13,996.81
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dumped 367.54 points, or 1.6%, to 22,671.26, its biggest drop in almost a month after central bank data showed aggregate financing in China slid 19% in March from a year earlier and money supply grew at the slowest pace on record.
Asics Corp. added 3.6% in Tokyo after Nomura Holdings Inc. advised buying shares of the sportswear maker. CapitaMalls Asia Ltd. soared a record 22% in Singapore after CapitaLand Ltd., Southeast Asia’s biggest developer, offered to buy the rest of its mall unit for about S$3.06 billion ($2.4 billion U.S.).
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 fell 39.15 points, or 1.7%, to 2,229.46.
China’s foreign-exchange reserves, the world’s largest, rose to $3.95 trillion U.S. at the end of March from $3.82 trillion U.S. at the end of December, data from the People’s Bank of China showed today.
Asia’s largest economy expanded 1.5% in the first quarter from the previous three months, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists ahead of tomorrow’s data, down from 1.8% in the fourth quarter. That indicates a sharper deceleration than the median projection for 7.3% growth from a year earlier, down from 7.7%.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index recovered 59.29 points, or 0.7%, to 8.916.71
Singapore’s Straits Times Index moved higher 31.49 points, or 1%, to 3,246.32
Korea’s Kospi Index faded 4.75 points, or 0.2%, to 1,992.27
The New Zealand Exchange 50 index inched higher 12.75 points, or 0.3%, to 5,076.29
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 29.21 points, or 0.6%, to 5,388.16
