Asia-Pacific stocks slipped on Monday as investors reacted to the release of Chinese economic data for July.
The Nikkei 225 tumbled 453.96 points, or 1.6%, to 27,523.19, with shares of Fast Retailing and SoftBank Group falling more than 2% each.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.34 per dollar, following a strengthening late last week from above 110 against the greenback.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng subtracted 210.16 points, or 0.8%, to 26,181.46.
Japan’s Gross Domestic Product rose 0.3% in the second quarter as compared with the previous three months, when it contracted 0.9%, according to official preliminary estimates released Monday. The April-June data print beat market forecasts for a 0.2% increase, according to Reuters.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7338 as compared with an earlier high of $0.7373.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 docked 4.91 points, or 0.1%, to 4,941.07.
Retail sales in China rose 8.5% in July as compared with a year ago, according to official data released Monday. That was far lower than the 11.5% rise forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, industrial production grew 6.4% in July, also falling short of expectations for a 7.8% year-on-year increase for the month, according to the Reuters poll.
In other markets
Markets in Korea were closed for holiday
In Singapore, the Straits Times dipped 19.91 points, or 0.6%, to 3,145.52
In Taiwan, the Taiex index plummeted 123.34 points, or 0.7%, to 16,858.77
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 43.91 points, or 0.3%, to 12,720.15.
In Australia, the ASX 200 faded 46.47 points, or 0.6%, at 7,582.46.
