Asian stock markets dip as consumer inflation in China slips to 2-year low
China consumer-price index grew just 0.8% y-o-y in February, marking the slowest pace since January 2015.
Most Asian stock market indices were trading lower on Thursday (9 March), with the Shanghai Composite down 1.03% at 3,207.19 as of 6.21am GMT. The bearish trend followed China reporting poor consumer inflation numbers.
On Thursday, China's National Bureau of Statistics said that the country's consumer-price index (CPI) had inched up by just 0.8% in February. This was not only lower than the 2.5% gain seen in January but also marked its slowest pace since January 2015.
This is said to have had a negative impact on investor confidence in the world's second biggest economy."The weak CPI data certainly weighed on market sentiment, which has been increasingly cautious as [a] U.S. interest rates hike seems highly possible this month," Jacky Zhang, an analyst at BOC International was quoted as saying by MarketWatch.
The Asian country's producer price index however, had a positive growth. It rose 7.8% year-on-year in February. This was greater than the 6.9% increase seen in January and also marked the highest level since September 2008.
Indices in the region were trading as follows at 6.35am GMT:
| Country | Index | Price | Up/Down | %Change |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng Index | 23,481.46 | Down | 1.26% |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 19,318.58 | Up | 0.34% |
| South Korea | KOSPI | 2,093.57 | Down | 0.09% |
| India | BSE | 28,890.61 | Down | 0.04% |
| Australia | S&P/ASX 200 | 5,741.20 | Down | 0.32% |
On 8 March the FTSE 100 closed 0.06% lower at 7,334.61 while the S&P 500 index closed 0.23% lower at 2,362.98.
Among commodities, oil prices which declined amid an increase in US crude inventories recovered some ground. As of 1.26am EST, WTI Crude Oil was up 0.68% at $50.62 (£41.63) a barrel, while Brent Crude was trading 0.83% higher at $53.55 a barrel.
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