Asia-Pacific stocks mostly advance as China’s factory prices rise more than expected
SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific stocks were largely higher in Thursday trade as investors reacted to the release of China’s inflation data for September
Mainland Chinese stocks closed mildly lower. The Shanghai composite declined 0.1% to 3,558.28 while the Shenzhen component dipped fractionally to around 14,341.38
Producer inflation surged in September, official data showed Thursday. The producer price index for September soared 10.7% as compared with a year ago, slightly above expectations in a Reuters poll for a 10.5% increase
China’s consumer price index also rose 0.7% in September as compared with a year ago. That was slightly below the 0.9% on-year increase as forecast in a Reuters poll
“The inflationary pressure, particularly … on the producer price front, is quite persistent and will be a problem going into next year as well,” Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Thursday
Some impact from higher energy prices would translate into increased consumer prices next year as well, he said
The persistent inflationary pressure also limits the People’s Bank of China’s scope for monetary policy easing, Zhang warned
PBOC Governor Yi Gang said Wednesday that inflation in China is moderate overall, according to a CNBC translation of a Thursday post on the Chinese central bank’s website
Singapore’s Straits Times index gained 0.24% in the afternoon, recovering from earlier losses after the country’s central bank unexpectedly tightened monetary policy on Thursday
Official advance estimates also showed Thursday that Singapore’s economy grew 6.5% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2021. That was largely in line with expectations from economists in a Reuters poll, who had expected a 6.6% year-on-year expansion for the third quarter
Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan advanced 1.46% to close at 28,550.93 while the Topix index edged 0.67% higher to end the trading day at 1,986.97. South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.5% higher at 2,988.64
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.54% on the day to 7,311.70
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.52% higher
