Asian stocks fell, trimming Monday's gains which saw the biggest gain in two years. Investors have therefore chosen caution, as they await data on the Chinese economy and weigh the profits of American companies.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index slipped 0,1% to 136.49 as of 10:06am in Tokyo, after jumping 2,2% yesterday, marking the biggest gain since September 2012. In the morning, technical disruptions have meant that the performance of the indices was communicated later than usual. Markets are awaiting data on China's GDP, industrial production and retail sales.
"Today, Asia is expecting one of the worst drops of the year," says Evan Lucas, market strategist at IG, referring to Beijing's third-quarter gross domestic product data, expected at 7% against the 7,5% target % set by the Chinese government. "Corporate earnings optimism is driving the US market."
Japan's Topix slipped 0,4% after jumping 4% yesterday for its best result since June 2013. South Korea's Kospi was down 1 percent. Bucking the trend, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0,1% and New Zealand's NZX 50 was up 0,7%.
