No market cheer for China data; STI down 1.2%

THE Straits Times Index (STI) ended Tuesday (Apr 16) at 3,144.76 points, down 38.85 points or 1.2 per cent. This marked its fourth consecutive fall, as investors took their cue from the overnight decline in North American and European markets.

Asian indices were uniformly down, with the Taiwan Stock Exchange Weighted Index one of the biggest decliners (-2.7 per cent).

The Nikkei 225 finished down 1.9 per cent, the Hang Seng Index fell 2.1 per cent and the Korea Stock Exchange Kospi fell 2.3 per cent.

Markets did not appear to take much comfort from China’s positive gross domestic product figure. The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics said real GDP rose 5.3 in Q1.

The GDP reading was better than market expectations, said Andrea Yang, a portfolio manager and China macro strategist with the global fixed income, currency and commodities division at JP Morgan Asset Management. Yang noted, however, that the real estate sector continued to show signs of weakness.

Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, noted that the Tuesday data releases from China followed a string of disappointing economic reports from the previous week.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

This included “lacklustre export and import figures, and stagnant consumer price growth”, raising questions about “the efficacy of China’s stimulus measures and the broader trajectory of its economic recovery”.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings : BS6 0% was the only STI component to buck the day’s downward trend, ending up 1.7 per cent.

Property group CapitaLand Investment : 9CI 0% was one of the biggest decliners of the day, falling 3.8 per cent on trading volume that was more than 2.5 times its average volume over the last year.

Across the broader market, decliners beat gainers 424 to 205.