Asian stocks fell during today's trading, as weak Chinese economic data bolstered concerns about slowing growth globally as well as in the world's second largest economy amid worries about the still-dominant pandemic and diminished central bank stimulus.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell by 0.82%, extending earlier losses after the release of Chinese data, while Tokyo's Nikkei slid by 0.89%, moving away from 31-year highs.
An influx of data from China showed companies were grappling with the impact of local lockdowns in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, supply bottlenecks and rising raw material costs.
Retail sales grew at the slowest pace since August 2020 and missed expectations, while industrial production also rose at a weaker pace than in July, confirming recent indications of slowing economic momentum in China and adding to expectations that Beijing will provide more stimulus over the coming months. After the data, China's blue-chip stocks fell by 0.73%.
