SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday trade as China reported its second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew.
Mainland Chinese stocks were mixed in morning trade. The Shanghai composite rose 0.26% while the Shenzhen component fell 0.26%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.33%.
China’s GDP rose 7.9% year-on-year in the second quarter, official data showed Thursday. That was lower than expectations by economists in a Reuters poll for a 8.1% rise.
Meanwhile, retail sales in June jumped 12.1% from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed — above analyst expectations for a 11% increase, according to Reuters.
Chinese industrial output rose 8.3% year-on-year in June, against expectations by analysts in a Reuters poll for a 7.8% increase.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.93% in morning trade while the Topix index shed 0.86%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.32%.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia slipped 0.16%. Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.9% in June, the country’s Bureau of Statistics announced Thursday. That was less than an expected 5.0% in a Reuters poll, and was also a drop from the 5.1% jobless rate in May.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.56% higher.
Bank of Korea keeps monetary policy steady
The Bank of Korea announced Thursday its decision to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, in line with expectations by analysts surveyed by Reuters.
Following that announcement, the South Korean won traded at 1,146 per dollar, still stronger than levels above 1,148 seen against the greenback yesterday.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.464 after a recent fall from above 92.7.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.89 per dollar, stronger than levels above 110.4 seen against the greenback earlier in the week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7458 following its bounce yesterday from around $0.744.
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures slipping 0.86% to $74.12 per barrel. U.S. crude futures declined 0.89% to $72.48 per barrel.
Source: CNBC