SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific stocks fell Monday as investors reacted to the release of China’s economic data for July.
According to official data released on Monday, retail sales in China rose 8.5% year over year in July. That was far less than the 11.5% increase forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, industrial production grew 6.4% in July and also fell short of expectations for a 7.8% year-over-year increase for the month, according to Reuters poll.
Mainland China stocks were mixed through the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite gaining 0.37% while the Shenzhen component lost 0.296%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.74%.
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Oil drops 1%
Oil prices fell on the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures falling 1.06% to $ 69.84 a barrel. US crude oil futures lost 1.11% to $ 67.68 a barrel.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its competitors, hit 92.544 after a recent decline of around 93.
The Japanese yen was trading at 109.39 per dollar after rising above 110 against the greenback late last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7336, compared to an earlier high of $ 0.7373.
