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Asian Stocks Retreat, European Shares Mixed

Asian Stocks Retreat, European Shares Mixed
Asian Stocks Retreat, European Shares Mixed

Asian stocks closed lower on Monday as investors digested the release of a barrage of China economic data, shrugging off the gains seen stateside in the previous session. This is while European stocks were mixed in cautious trade.

Shanghai composite declined 0.61% to close at 2,813.92 as investors digested the release of a barrage of economic data, including China's second-quarter GDP growth of 6.7% which met expectations. That was a tad below the 6.8% growth seen in the previous quarter. The smaller Shenzhen composite was little changed, ending the session lower by 0.1%, CNBC reported.

The easing in growth came on the back of "softer global trade and the tightening of financial policy" since early this year, Oxford Economics' Head of Asia Economics Louis Kuijs said in a note. "We expect growth in H2 to be challenged ... (but) China's most recent export data suggests that overall global demand momentum remains solid for now."

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.17%, with property and materials stocks slumping before the market close, although some of those losses were offset by gains in the utilities sector.

South Korean stocks closed lower, with the Kospi slipping 0.39% to 2,301.99. Bank stocks declined, weighing on the broader index, but automakers climbed, with Hyundai Motor closing up 2.86%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged down by 0.43% to 6,241.50, with health care among the worst-performing sectors.

Meanwhile, markets in Japan were closed for a holiday on Monday.

MSCI's index of shares in Asia Pacific excluding Japan slipped 0.41% in Asia afternoon trade.

The lower moves came despite gains on Wall Street in the previous session. The S&P 500 added 0.11% to end at 2,801.31, closing the session above the 2,800 level for the first time since February 1.

In India, market benchmark BSE Sensex dropped by around 218 points or 0.60% due to continued sell-off in banking, pharma, and metal stocks amid foreign fund outflows and weak Asian cues.

The broad-based Nifty cracked below the 11,000-mark as 35 of its constituents closed in the red, led by pharma and metal shares.

Investors turned cautious after India’s trade deficit widened to a more than three-and-a-half-year high of $16.6 billion due to costlier crude oil imports and inflation based on wholesale prices shot up to 5.77% in June, brokers said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex started positive at 36,658.71, but the higher levels gave way as the gauge ended at 36,323.77, down 217.86 points, or 0.60%. In intra-day trading, it also hit a low of 36,298.94.

In currencies, the dollar index, which tracks the US dollar against a basket of currencies, softened to trade at 94.644. Against the yen, the dollar traded at 112.36.

European Trading

European stocks were moving in a narrow range on Monday as traders looked toward company results after mixed economic data out of China spurred declines for Asian shares. The dollar weakened against most peers, Bloomberg reported.

Banks rose on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, after Deutsche Bank AG said its earnings are likely to be above market expectations, offsetting a drop in miners. Futures on the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow pointed to a firmer open.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was marginally higher at 385.15 in late opening deals after rising 0.2% on Friday.

The German DAX was rising 0.2%, while French shares were marginally lower and the UK's FTSE 100 dropped half a percent.

Elevator firm Kone rose more than 2% on a report that it has held merger talks with Germany's Thyssenkrupp.

Mining and energy stocks were moving lower on concerns about slowing growth in China.

SDL shares rallied 3.5%. The British software and professional services firm has agreed to acquire the business and assets of Donnelley Language Solutions on a cash-free, debt-free basis for a cash consideration of $77.5 million from Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc.

French technology consultancy firm Altran jumped almost 6% after losing as much as 30% on Friday on news that it had uncovered forged orders at its recently acquired US business Aricent.

Media conglomerate Lagardere advanced 1.6% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock rating.

Dialog Semiconductor advanced 4% in Frankfurt. Deutsche Bank shares jumped 8%.

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