China data woes end STI upward streak

ASIAN markets declined broadly on Monday, following news of worse-than-expected Chinese data indicating further weakness in the world's second-largest economy and signs of a global slowdown.

For the month of December, China's exports shrank 4.4 per cent from a year earlier, the largest drop in two years. Its imports fell 7.6 per cent, the most since July 2016. Analysts had forecast exports and imports to grow by 3 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. The unexpected contraction overshadowed the markets' optimism from last week's trade talks between Washington and Beijing.

Stock markets in South-east Asia were particularly hard-hit by the news, as China is the region's largest trading partner. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index (STI) started the day strongly with a momentary spike above 3,200 at market open.