Asian stocks slide with China in the lead; Nikkei loses steam
Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks sank on Friday with Chinese markets leading losses on resurgent concerns over a slowing economy, while a rally in Japan’s Nikkei 225 ran dry after strong inflation data.
Global markets were caught off guard by an unexpected interest rate cut by the Swiss National Bank. The move sparked outsized flows into the dollar, pressuring risk-driven assets outside the U.S.
This saw Asian markets largely disregard a strong lead-in from Wall Street, which closed at record highs on Thursday. U.S. stock futures also trimmed early gains and traded sideways in Asian trade.
China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes slid 1.6% each on Friday, and were among the worst performers in Asia. Losses in technology and mainland stocks dragged Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down 2.6%.
All three indexes were set for weekly losses after Friday’s dip, which came without any clear catalysts. But signs of slowing economic growth and disappointing stimulus measures continued to trickle in.
Government data showed China’s fiscal revenues fell 2.3% in the first two months of 2024, while the People’s Bank of China said it still had room to cut its reserve requirement ratio — providing more monetary stimulus. But monetary stimulus measures have so far provided little support to the Chinese economy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was flat on Friday after briefly rising as much as 1% to a record high above 41,000 points.
But gains in the Nikkei were short-lived as data showed Japanese consumer price index (CPI) inflation grew sharply in February. The reading came just days after a historic interest rate hike from the Bank of Japan, and lent further credence to the BOJ’s hawkish outlook.
Analysts at Citi said
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