View the article online at http://citywire.co.uk/money/article/a633517
Japan’s GDP contraction weighs on Asian markets
Asian share fell after Japan’s economy contracted at the fastest pace since last year’s earthquake, overshadowing an increase in China’s exports.
Markets

Asian shares declined on Monday in morning trade as Japan’s economy contracted at the fastest pace since last year’s earthquake, overshadowing an increase in China’s exports.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.2% to 121 as of 10:54 a.m. in Tokyo. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.6% as a report showed gross domestic product shrank an annualised 3.5% in the three months through September. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed and South Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.1% while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4%.
China’s exports increased 11.6% from a year earlier, the Beijing-based customs administration said in a statement. The figures exceeded the 10% estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. Imports gained 2.4%, the same pace as the previous month. The trade surplus surged to $32 billion, the biggest in almost four years.
In the U.S., negotiations began to prevent the "fiscal cliff" by hammering out a compromise to cut the U.S. deficit before nearly $600 billion worth of spending cuts and tax increases kick in early next year.
In Europe, prospects for a bailout for Greece remained unclear even after the debt-stricken country on Sunday won a parliamentary approval for the 2013 budget law.
Fast Retailing Co., Asia’s biggest clothing retailer, lost 0.7% after Japan’s growth data. QBE Insurance Group Ltd. plunged 10%, the most in 10 months, after Australia’s largest insurer by market value said it will issue debt due to losses from hurricane Sandy in the U.S.
Li & Fung Ltd., a supplier of clothes and toys to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., added 1.1% after Chinese exports expanded at the fastest rate since May.
Lynas Corp., builder of the world’s biggest rare-earth refinery in Malaysia, fell 8.1% in Sydney after selling A$150 million of new shares.
News sponsored by:
The Citywire Guide to Investment Trusts
In this guide to investment trusts, produced in association with Aberdeen Asset Management, we spoke to many of the leading experts in the field to find out more.
Today's articles





Tools from Citywire Money
Weekly email from The Lolly
Get simple, easy ways to make more from your money. Just enter your email address below
An error occured while subscribing your email. Please try again later.
Thank you for registering for your weekly newsletter from The Lolly.
Keep an eye out for us in your inbox, and please add noreply@emails.citywire.co.uk to your safe senders list so we don't get junked.
Read more...
The Accumulator: oil's rally sparks Trump anger
by Daniel Grote on Apr 20, 2018 at 16:31
leave a comment
Please sign in here or register here to comment. It is free to register and only takes a minute or two.