Most Asian markets slide following weak China economic data

Most Asian stock market indices were trading lower on Thursday (27 October) with the Shanghai Composite down 0.21% at 3,109.69 as of 6.40am GMT following China reporting weak economic data.

Official data from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the country's industrial profits slowed in September. The world's second largest economy recorded a 7.7% on-year growth in industrial profits for the month, substantially down from the 19.5% growth in August.

Analysts said the slowdown was temporary and came amid Beijing's new property controls that had negatively impacted the construction sector, in turn affecting the profits of coal and steel producers in China.

"The impact from the economic data on the market can be neglected because they do not reflect the future trend," Zeng Xianzhao, manager at Chongqing Nuoding Asset Management was quoted as saying by MarketWatch.

Indices in the region were trading as follows at 6.51am GMT:

Overnight (26 October), the FTSE 100 closed 0.85% lower at 6,958.09, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher by 0.17% at 18,199.33.

Among commodities, oil prices fell overnight to a near three-week low amid concerns if Opec would actually cut production. However, in Asian hours, crude prices bounced back and were trading in the green. While WTI crude oil was trading higher by 0.26% at $49.31 (£40.38) a barrel, Brent crude was 0.36% higher at $50.16 a barrel as of 7.01am GMT.