Asian markets mixed following poor China export data

While Asian stock market indices were trading mixed on Friday (13 January), the Shanghai Composite was down 0.10% at 3,116.22 as of 5.23am GMT following China reporting disappointing export numbers.

The world's second biggest economy reported a 2% decline in 2016 exports in yuan terms.

The dollar-denominated data showed a larger fall of 7.7% on-year. The falls were more than expected and marked a second consecutive year of drop.

China's imports in 2016 showed a mixed picture — up 0.6% in yuan terms, but down 5.5% on-year in dollar terms.

According to some analysts, the markets are still experiencing the negative effects of Donald Trump's press conference as he had failed to talk about his election promises such as lower taxes and increased infrastructure spending. This is said to have had a negative impact on the US dollar as well.

"With just over a week until his inauguration, (traders) hoped that Donald Trump would spend some time outlining the scope of his infrastructure plans...Unfortunately the president-elect failed to do so yesterday and the US dollar dropped as a result," Kathy Lien, MD of forex strategy for BK Asset Management, was quoted as saying by CNBC.

Indices in the region were trading as follows at 5.36am GMT:

On 12 January, the FTSE 100 Index closed 0.03% higher at 7,292.37, while the S&P 500 index closed 0.21% lower at 2,270.44.

Among commodities, oil prices were trading higher amid the weaker US dollar and news that Saudi Arabia had cut oil production to its lowest levels in about two years. As of 12.27am EST, WTI crude oil was trading 0.11% higher at $53.07 (£43.63) a barrel, while Brent crude was trading 0.07% higher at $56.05 a barrel.