Asian shares turn mixed as China clocks 4.8% Q1 growth
Shares were mostly lower in Asia after China on Monday reported that its economy expanded at a 4.8 per cent annual pace in January-March.
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Bangkok: Shares were mostly lower in Asia after China on Monday reported that its economy expanded at a 4.8 per cent annual pace in January-March. Benchmarks fell in Tokyo, Taipei and Shanghai. Seoul edged higher. Hong Kong and Sydney were closed for holidays. Oil prices rose and US futures were lower. Wall Street benchmarks declined last week before closing for the Easter holiday.
China's growth has fallen well below the official target of 5.5 per cent for 2022. In quarterly terms the economy grew 1.3 per cent in the first quarter, compared with 1.4 per cent in the last quarter of 2021. Authorities have ordered shutdowns in some major cities including Shanghai to battle the country's worst outbreaks of corona virus since it flared into a pandemic in March 2020.
But the biggest impact of the shutdowns will likely be seen in the current quarter. "Lockdowns are going to affect data for the whole of April, and maybe even longer as more cities are also adopting measures to bring Covid under control," ING Economics researchers said in a note. The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.7 per cent to 3,190.48.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 1.2 per cent to 26,760.31 while the Kospi in Seoul edged 0.1 per cent higher to 2,699.09. India's Sensex dropped 2 per cent. Bangkok and most other regional markets declined, while Jakarta was higher.
As trading resumes on Monday in many world markets, attention is focused on Ukraine, where Ukrainian fighters were holding out against a capture of their shattered city of Mariupol after a seven-week siege, ignoring a surrender-or-die ultimatum from Russia.
