Mixed signs in Asia – Losses in China against the backdrop of the GDP ‘brake’

Indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the week’s final trading with mixed signs, as an unexpected slowdown in China’s GDP weighed on the country’s indexes.

Specifically, in Japan the Nikkei closed with a 0.5% increase at 26,770 points, while the Topix moved a little lower at +0.3% and 1,888 points.

In South Korea the Kospi finished marginally in positive territory with just +0.08% at 2,324 points, in Taiwan the market strengthened by 0.8% with the Taiwan Weighted at 14,550 points, while in contrast in Australia the ASX 200 lost 0.85 % falling to 6,598 units.

In China, as mentioned above, trends were down in both the mainland and Hong Kong

In particular, the Shanghai Composite moved down 1% to 3,259 points, the Shenzen Composite fell by 0.75% to 12,500 points, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng showed significant losses of 1.95% to 20,347 points with the technology sector in -2%.

In the news of the day, China’s GDP grew at a rate of 0.4% in the second quarter of the year, well below estimates that had expected the Chinese economy to grow at a rate of 1%.

At the same time, the country’s industrial production in June also missed expectations, showing a rise of 3.9% compared to the previous year, against the forecast for 4.1%.

However, retail sales in June rose 3.1%, recovering from the recession that preceded it, well beating estimates that had expected it to be unchanged from last year.

Elsewhere, real estate stocks in China came under further pressure as a payment “boycott” widened with buyers of 230 properties in 86 cities across the country in concert refusing to pay mortgages on pre-sold unfinished buildings unless the their construction.

Against this backdrop, China Overseas Land & Investment stock came under heavy pressure with losses of 3%, while Longfor Group dived more than 6%.

Finally, Alibaba’s US stock fell about 5% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company’s executives had been subpoenaed by authorities investigating the theft of police records. Shares of the Chinese tech giant in Hong Kong also fell 5% today.