Data showing Chinese production cooling sets Asia stock markets in early holes for 2019
BEIJING (AP) – Asian stock markets tumbled Wednesday in 2019 trading began, after surveys showed Chinese manufacturing failure.
Keeping score: Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, -1.30%
lost 1.1% to 2,465.29 and Hong Kong's Hang Bed
HSI, -2.46%, fell 2.6% to 25.161.03. Japan's markets were closed. Seoul's Kospi
SEU, -1.54%
lost 1.3% to 2.013.80 and Sydney's S & P-ASX 200
XJO, -1.57%
cast 0.9% to 5,593.80. Manila advanced, while Singapore and Jakarta retired. New Zealand closed.
Chinese factories: Perhaps studies from China's government and a large business magazine showed activity weakened in December, as global and domestic demand cooled. The forecasts said it could send shock waves through Asian economies that supply Chinese factories with raw materials and components. Chinese export growth has risen as producers rushed to fill orders before possible new US tariff increases in Washington's trade battle with Beijing, but the forecasts said the effect could fade.
Analyst comment: The Chinese production decline "raises a few red flags," said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in a report. The slide is "not entirely surprising given more challenging global trading conditions", but it is "potentially symptomatic of far sharper underlying demand extracts," Varathan said. China's trade and investment relations with its neighbors means the decline "will reflect greater prevalence against other Asian exporters."
Currencies: Dollar divided down to 109.36 yen
USDJPY, -0.32%
from Monday's 109.67. The euro
EURUSD, + 0.0262%
fell to $ 1.1446 from $ 1.1466.
Energy: Benchmark U.S. Pat. crude
CLG9, -0.86%
lost 41 cents to $ 45 a barrel in electronic commerce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract got 8 cents on Monday to close at $ 45.41. Burned crude oil, which used to price international oils, went down 53 cents to $ 53.27 a barrel in London. It made 59 cents last session to close at $ 53.80.
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