Employees prepare to work on the trading floor of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Japanese stocks closed down 125.44 points to 18,665.11 yesterday.

AFP/Tokyo


Asian shares brushed off a positive lead from Wall Street to mainly retreat for a second straight day yesterday, as official data pointed to further weakness in China’s economy.
The euro continued to flounder against the greenback a day after the European Central Bank launched its stimulus “bazooka”, while the dollar pushed towards an eight-year high against the yen as dealers bet on a US interest rate hike.
News that China’s consumer price inflation rebounded in February from a more-than-five-year low was overshadowed by a steep drop in consumer prices, indicating more softness down the line.
Shanghai fell 0.49%, or 16.34 points, to 3,286.07 and Hong Kong lost 0.94%, or 226.07 points, to 23,896.98.
Tokyo fell 0.67%, or 125.44 points, to 18,665.11 and Seoul shed 0.40%, or 8.05 points, to end at 1,984.77.
Sydney was flat, edging up 2.9 points to 5,824.2.
In other markets, Taipei fell 0.28%, or 26.45 points, to 9.536.53; Acer eased 2.29% to Tw$21.35 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co slipped 1.03% to Tw$144.0.
Wellington slipped 0.16%, or 9.21 points, to 5,887.75; telecom giant Spark slipped 1.82% to NZ$3.24, Mighty River Power lost 3.24% to NZ$3.29 and Auckland Airport was off 0.44% at NZ$4.53.
Manila edged up 0.10%, or 8.19 points, to 7,828.48; top-traded Metropolitan Bank gained 0.27% to 94.10 pesos.
Ayala Corp advanced 1.23% to 741pesos, while Philippine Long Distance Telephone inched up 0.26% to 3,092pesos.
Kuala Lumpur closed down 0.11%, or 2.01 points, at 1,789.73; Sime Darby lost 1.82% to 9.17 ringgit, British American Tobacco went down 1.20% to 67.72 ringgit, while Tenaga National rose 0.27% to 14.66 ringgit. Jakarta closed up 0.34%, or 18.29 points, to 5,462.93; consumer goods Unilever rose 0.80% to 37,800 rupiah, while mining company Adaro Energy fell 0.51% to 985 rupiah.
Singapore closed down 0.19%, or 6.31 points, to 3,398.26; commodity traders Noble Group declined 6.50% to Sg$0.94 while United Overseas Bank fell 0.39% to Sg$22.80.
Bangkok closed down 1.84%, or 28.67 points, to 1,531.04; telecoms giant AIS dipped 1.28% to 231baht while Siam Cement also fell 2.65% to 514baht. Bumrungrad Hospital bucked the day’s trend, up 1.99% to 154baht.
The losses came despite a positive day in New York, with the three main indexes ending higher after Apple launched its long-awaited watch, while GM announced a $5bn share buyback.
The Dow rose 0.78% and the S&P 500 gained 0.39%. The tech-rich Nasdaq advanced 0.31%.
In China, the National Bureau of Statistics said consumer inflation hit 1.4% in February, well up from 0.8% the previous month and much better than the 1.0% forecast.
However, the NBS also said the price of goods at the factory gate slumped 4.8%, the worst result since October 2009, driven by falling energy prices.
The indicators were released after authorities cut interest rates in November as well as last month.
“Today’s data showed that China is in danger of deflation,” said Christopher Wong, a Singapore-based senior investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.
“The economic situation there is very tough while the relaxation of its monetary policy is still behind the curve.”
Tokyo’s Nikkei was Asia’s best performer in early dealing as exporters were supported by the weakening yen.
In Tokyo, the greenback briefly surged to a high of ¥122.02, around levels not seen since July 2007. It later settled back to ¥121.68.
The greenback continued to rally after Friday’s blistering US jobs report fanned speculation the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates as soon as June.
“The US economy is moving in the right direction, and expectations of a rate hike should continue until the Fed’s meeting next week, which means the yen could continue to weaken against the dollar,” said Toshihiko Matsuno, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities in Tokyo.
The euro was hovering around 11-year lows on the dollar. The single currency slipped to $1.0797 from $1.0854 in US trade, and to ¥131.39 from ¥131.49.
The ECB kicked off its 60bn-euro-a-month asset-buying scheme Monday hoping it will fend off deflation in the eurozone and also kick-start economic growth.
However, there remain worries about Greece’s bailout extension as it starts technical talks this week with its regional partners. Oil prices were lower. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate eased 25 cents to $49.75 while Brent dipped 39 cents to $58.14.
Gold fetched $1,162.02 against $1,174.98 late Monday.