Asian stocks fell after China’s economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter as gains in factory output and investment spending eased.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index faltered 92.78 points, or 0.6%, to 15,641.68.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 204.20 points, or 0.9%, to 22,928.95.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. the nation’s biggest lender by market value, dropped 2.1% in Hong Kong. Nintendo Co. sank 6.2% in Tokyo, the second-biggest decline on the regional benchmark index, after the maker of Wii video-game consoles forecast a surprise full-year loss.
Ssangyong Motor Co. rose 1.4% after controlling shareholder Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. announced plans to invest one trillion won ($939 million U.S.) in the South Korean carmaker.
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck New Zealand’s North Island today, shaking capital city Wellington and sending the nation’s currency lower.
ICBC slipped 2.1% to HK$4.78. China Construction Bank, the nation’s second-largest lender by market value, lost 1.8% to HK$5.39. Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. dropped 1.7% to HK$3.39.
Glorious Property Holdings Ltd. tumbled 27% to HK$1.25, its biggest drop on record, after shareholders rejected Chinese billionaire Zhang Zhirong’s offer to take the property developer private.
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index fell 12.50 points, or 0.6%, to 2,165.90
China’s economy expanded 7.7% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. That compares with 7.8% growth in the previous three months.
Industrial production rose 9.7% in December from a year earlier, data showed, down from a 10% gain in November. Retail sales last month rose 13.6% from a year earlier, slowing from 13.7% in November.
Fixed-asset investment in China excluding rural households increased 19.6% in the January-to-December period from a year earlier, when it expanded 20.6%
Zhongsheng Group Holdings Ltd., a distributor of Volkswagen AG’s Porsches and Audis and Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz cars in China, surged 8.9% to HK$12.54 in Hong Kong after the company said it is raising as much as HK$5.6 billion ($722 million U.S.) by issuing shares and selling convertible bonds to Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd.
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi index moved ahead 9.30 points, or 0.5%, to 1,953.78
Taiwan’s Taiex Index boosted 25.86 points, or 0.3%, to 8,621.56.
The Singapore Straits Times Index dropped 18.54 points, or 0.6%, to 3,128.79
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 subtracted 3.45 points, or 0.1%, to 4,890.50
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 backtracked 10.82 points, or 0.2%, to 5,295.05
