China joins downbeat Asia after inflation data

Asian stocks stumbled early Wednesday, as fresh data due out of China added to concerns over the state of the world’s second-largest economy.

The mainland’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.6 percent in September from a year earlier, against forecasts of a 1.8 percent rise from a Reuters poll and following August’s 2 percent gain.

The producer price index (PPI) fell 5.9 percent, in line with expectations and after a 5.9 percent fall in the previous month. The PPI, which measures wholesale prices, clocked its 43rd straight month of decline as overcapacity in a number of sectors coupled with a lack of demand to keep a lid on prices.

The raft of consumer price data follows official data released on Tuesday that showed the country’s dollar-denominated imports plunged 20.4 percent in September to chalk up the 11th consecutive month of decline, while exports fell 3.7 percent from a year earlier.

Major US averages fell overnight, as investors weighed slight declines in oil prices and further indications of a persistent slowdown in China’s economy.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average broke a seven-day winning streak by ending down 0.3 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.7 and 0.9 percent respectively.

China’s share markets opened lower on Tuesday, with the Shanghai Composite index ticking down 0.2 percent. Among China’s other indexes, the benchmark CSI300 Index edged down 0.2 percent, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite lingered just a tad below the flatline.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index crashed to its lowest level since October 5, with export-oriented counters dented by renewed strength in the yen. Dollar-yen last traded at 119.53, as the greenback pulled back amid heightening bets that the Federal Reserve may not raise short-term interest rates until 2016.

Carmakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan, Suzuki Motor and Honda declined between 1.8 and 2.7 percent, while Komatsu – a construction equipment maker with heavy exposure to China – slumped 3.9 percent.

Nikon tumbled 5.4 percent after the Nikkei business daily reported that the company’s April-September operating profit likely fell 27 percent to 9.5 billion yen as digital camera sales missed expectations.

Oil-related counters remained under pressure; Inpex sold down 3.8 percent, while JX Holdings and Showa Shell shaved off 2.6 and 2 percent respectively.