Asian Shares Slide After Mixed China Data

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended lower on Monday as worries grew over Europe's political stability and China reported mixed economic data.

The dollar held firm, keeping oil and gold prices under pressure in Asian trading.

Central banks in Australia, Norway and the U.K. are all expected to hold rates steady at this week's meetings while another 25-bps rate cut is expected from the Swiss National Bank (SNB).

Chinese stocks fell as a slew of economic data underlined the country's bumpy recovery and the People's Bank of China (PBOC) left a key policy rate unchanged, disappointing some who had expected a rate cut following surprisingly soft bank lending data.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.55 percent to 3,015.89 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished marginally lower at 17,936.12 after a choppy session.

China's May retail sales topped forecasts, but industrial output, home sales and fixed-asset investment all underwhelmed, suggesting Beijing would need to do more to prop up feeble domestic demand.

China's state media reported that the country is facing internal and external constraints to lower rates.

Japanese markets led regional losses as the Bank of Japan's delay in normalization of policy raised concerns about the economic outlook.

There was also some disappointment on the data front after core machinery orders fell in April for the first time in three months.

The Nikkei average slumped 1.83 percent to 38,102.44 while the broader Topix index settled 1.70 percent lower at 2,700.01.

Toyota Motor shed 2.7 percent amid continued fallout from a testing scandal while Honda Motor, Nissan, Suzuki and Mazda lost 3-4 percent. Chip-related shares also underperformed, with Tokyo Electron and Advantest falling 3-4 percent.

Seoul stocks ended lower on concerns over a possible delay in long-awaited interest-rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Kospi average dipped 0.52 percent to 2,744.10. Hyundai Motor surged 3.9 percent after its India unit filed for an initial public offering.

Australian stocks ended modestly lower, dragged down by mining and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.31 percent to 7,700.30 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.39 percent lower at 7,943.60.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index fell 1.40 percent to 11,698.51 after data revealed New Zealand's services sector recorded its weakest level of activity in almost three years in May.

U.S. stocks ended narrowly mixed on Friday but posted strong weekly gains on growing hopes for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September.

In economic releases, U.S. import prices fell for the first time in five months in May and year-ahead inflation expectations were unchanged at 3.3 percent in June while consumer sentiment dropped to a seven-month low in June, separate reports showed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.1 percent to reach a record closing high while the S&P 500 finished marginally lower and the Dow eased 0.2 percent.