Asian Shares Retreat On Growth Worries

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks declined on Monday due to lingering worries about U.S. and Chinese growth.

Responding to Friday's weak jobs data, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the U.S. economy remains strong and that recent months of cooler jobs data is a signal of a soft landing, not a recession.

The dollar fluctuated ahead of August inflation data due this week and the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on September 17 and September 18.

Gold was subdued under $2,500 per ounce mark while oil prices jumped more than 1 percent in Asian trading following last week's brutal sell-off.

Chinese and Hong Kong markets led regional losses as consumer inflation figures came in weaker than forecast. China's Shanghai Composite index fell 1.06 percent to 2,736.49 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 1.42 percent to 17,196.96.

Official data showed consumer prices in China were up 0.6 percent on year in August, up from 0.5 percent in July, but shy of forecasts for 0.7 percent.

Producer prices dropped 1.8 percent on year versus expectations for a decline of 1.4 percent following the 0.8 percent drop a month earlier.

Japanese markets declined and suffered a fifth day of losses, as tech stocks followed their U.S. peers lower. Tokyo Electron fell 2.3 percent and Shin-Etsu Chemical lost 2.2 percent, tracking sharp losses in their U.S. counterparts.

The Nikkei average fell 0.48 percent to 36,215.75 after a near 6 percent slide last week. That marked its lowest close since Aug. 9.

The broader Topix index closed 0.68 percent lower at 2,579.73. Both benchmarks ended off their day's lows, tracking gains in U.S. index futures and a weakening yen.

Japan's GDP grew a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2024, the Cabinet Office said today. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.8 percent, which would have been unchanged from the previous three months.

On an annualized basis, GDP rose 2.9 percent - again missing forecasts for 3.1 percent growth.

Seoul stocks ended modestly lower, with the Kospi average falling 0.33 percent to 2,535.93. Samsung Electronics fell more than 2 percent on concerns that the global chip cycle may be nearing its peak.

Australian markets declined, with financials and retail stocks leading losses. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.32 percent to 7,988.10 while the broader All Ordinaries index slipped 0.28 percent to 8,191.90.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index finished marginally higher at 12,621.62.

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday as weaker-than-expected job growth signaled an economic slowdown.

Data showed non-farm payroll employment rose 142,000 jobs in August compared to economist estimates for an increase of 160,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate ticked down slightly from 4.3 percent to 4.2 percent but there was a net downward revision of 86,000 jobs to payroll gains in the prior two months.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.6 percent to reach its lowest closing level in almost a month, while the S&P 500 plummeted 1.7 percent and the Dow dropped 1 percent.