S&P 500 slips, but losses kept in check as Nvidia climbs ahead of results
(Fixes paragraph 6 typographical error)
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Chinese Oct economic indicators miss forecasts
* Hopes for resolution to U.S.-China trade war fade
* Asian stocks drop, Hong Kong falls most
By Stanley White and Tom Westbrook
TOKYO/SINGAPORE, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell on
Thursday after soft Chinese economic data showed the trade war
between Beijing and Washington hitting growth in the world's
second-largest economy.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS , which had drifted in to positive territory in
morning trade, turned negative to trade 0.4% lower.
Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 dropped 0.6%, while
Shanghai blue chips .CSI300 turned from positive to flat and
Australia's S&P/ASX200 .AXJO index wiped some of its gains to
trade less than 0.5% higher by mid afternoon in Sydney.
China's industrial production growth slowed sharply in
October, rising 4.7% year-on-year, official data showed, missing
forecasts of 5.4%, while retail sales also slowed to fall short
of expectations and investment growth hit a record low.
"The weakness in investment and production would suggest
that confidence is down and trade is probably a big factor
within that," said Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital
in Sydney.
"What it does do is it puts more pressure on Chinese
authorities to come to a deal with (U.S. President) Donald Trump
on trade, just as President Trump's desire to be re-elected puts
pressure on him to come to a deal with the Chinese," Oliver
said.
However, the weak figures also landed as the latest round of
markets optimism for such a resolution has begun to run dry.
Trump offered no update on the progress of negotiations in a
policy speech on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal reported on
Wednesday that talks had snagged on farm purchases. Meanwhile the global fallout from the dispute is widening.
Japan's economic growth hit its slowest pace in a year in
the third quarter as soft demand knocked exports. "Looking around the region, you've had some near misses of
recession - Korea's been one, Singapore's also been one and
you've got Hong Kong in a recession at the moment," said Sean
Darby, global equity strategist at Jeffries in Hong Kong.
"So it's not great. It's not a cycle that is not leaving any
scars," he said.
Worries about spiralling violence as anti-government
protests intensify in Hong Kong have also soured investor
sentiment.
Protesters paralysed parts of Hong Kong for a fourth day on
Thursday, forcing school closures and blocking highways and
other transport links in a marked escalation of unrest in the
financial hub. Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI fell almost another percentage
point on Thursday to a fresh one-month low. Safe havens such as
the Japanese yen, Swiss franc and gold held on to gains.
U.S. stock futures ESc1 fell 0.1% in Asia on Thursday
after the S&P 500 .SPX eked out a 0.07% gain on Wednesday and
closed at a record high, helped by a surge in Walt Disney Co
DIS.N shares. U.S. stocks have climbed to record levels recently, fuelled
by interest rate cuts, positive earnings, and signs the economy
is bottoming out, but doubts about progress in trade talks
remain a huge risk to financial markets and global growth.
A new Reuters poll showed most economists do not expect
Washington and Beijing to reach a permanent trade truce over the
coming year. In currency markets, the yen JPY=EBS was quoted at 108.73
per dollar, close to a one-week high. The Swiss franc CHF=EBS
traded at 0.9901 versus the greenback, near the highest in more
than a week. The Australian dollar skidded to a one-month low on Thursday
after a worryingly weak reading on employment re-ignited
speculation about another cut in interest rates. U.S. crude CLc1 rose 0.4% to $57.32 a barrel after a fall
in stockpiles added to positive comments by the U.S. Federal
Reserve head on the U.S. economy. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR
fell slightly to 1.8774%.
(Editing by Sam Holmes)