Asian markets slide following decline in US productivity for third straight quarter

All Asian stock market indices were trading lower on 10 August. The Shanghai Composite was down 0.22% at 3,018.96 as of 6.02am GMT. This followed an unexpected drop in the US productivity figures for the April-June period.

The Labor Department said yesterday (9 August) that US nonfarm productivity, which is measured as the output of goods and services per hour worked declined at a 0.5% annual rate in the second quarter ending 30 June. This marked the third straight quarterly decline, according to a news report.

"Low US productivity growth could suggest the third quarter growth can't be fantastic. That in turn would mean the Fed will not need to raise rates," Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Chris Weston, chief market strategist at brokerage firm IG, was cited by CNBC as saying that the current downtrend in the markets would make investors happy but would frustrate the day traders. "However, these markets are not at levels likely to cause any real anxiety in broader risk sentiment," he added.

Indices in the rest of Asia traded as follows on 10 August at 6.13am GMT:

Overnight (9 August), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18,533.05, up 0.02%, while the FTSE 100 closed at 6,851.30, up 0.62%.

Among commodities, oil prices lost ground after an increase in US crude inventory rekindled oversupply concerns. While WTI crude oil was trading lower by 0.42% at $42.59 (£32.63; €38.21) a barrel, Brent crude was trading 0.38% lower at $44.81 a barrel as of 6.23am GMT.