Asian shares slip on China worries; US inflation figures awaited
economictimes.indiatimes.comFederal Reserve's monetary policy path. The announcement of a U.S. ban on investments in sensitive technologies in the world's second-largest economy also weighed on sentiment.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.33% and it looked set to log a second straight week of losses. China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index opened 0.1% lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index retreated 0.6%. Japan's Nikkei was, however, up 0.13%.
Chinese data on Wednesday showing deflation at the consumer-price level and further declines for factory-gate prices in July have only exacerbated concerns about the sputtering nature of the country's post-pandemic recovery. China is the first G20 economy to report a year-on-year decline in consumer prices since Japan's last negative headline CPI reading in August 2021. It highlights «the need for more fiscal support, if Beijing wants to avoid the prospect of a deflationary trap,» said Rodrigo Catril, senior currency strategist at National Australia Bank.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order that will prohibit some new U.S. investment in China in sensitive technologies like computer chips and require government notification in other tech sectors. «This signifies unprecedented federal oversight to scrutinize and sometimes hinder such investments in China's tech sector,» strategists at Saxo Markets said.
Investors have also been unwilling to place major bets this week ahead of a U.S. inflation report due later on Thursday. U.S.
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