Asian shares fall after China CPI rises less than expected

ASIAN shares eased on Tuesday with investors looking ahead for possible easing by China after data showed consumer prices rose less than expected. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.70 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.30 per cent and the Nikkei 225 was down

In China, consumer prices for October rose 1.3% year-on-year, below the 1.5 per cent gain expected, while producer prices eased 5.9 per cent, less than the 5.9 per cent fall seen. In Japan, data showed the adjusted current account narrowed to ¥780 billion from ¥1.59 trillion and bank lending rose 2.5 per cent, less than the 2.6 per cent gain seen.

Earlier in Australia, home loans in September rose 2.0 per cent, better than the 0.1 per cent gain seen while a NAB survey saw business confidence dip to plus-2 in October from plus-5 the previous month and conditions steady at plus-9. Overnight, U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Consumer Services and Financials sectors led shares lower. At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.00 per cent, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.98 per cent, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 1.01 per cent.

Friday’s strong U.S. employment data continued to dominate sentiment. The greenback strengthened broadly after the Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 271,000 jobs last month, well ahead of the 180,000 expected by economists and the largest increase since December. The unemployment rate fell to a seven-and-a-half year low of 5.0 per cent.

The robust data paved the way for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at its December meeting, a move that would make the dollar more attractive to yield-seeking investors. The jobs data came after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said that the U.S. economy was performing well, and that December would represent a ‘live possibility’ for raising interest rates if economic data supported it.