Asian shares slip after China’s inflation rate cools

Asian shares tottered on Wednesday, extending losses after consumer inflation in China eased more than expected and heightened concerns about deflationary pressures in the world’s second-largest economy.

The downbeat mood was expected to continue into European trading, with financial spreadbetters calling Britain’s FTSE 100 to open down by as much as 1.0 per cent. Germany’s Dax was seen opening as much as 0.7 per cent lower, while France’s Cac 40 was seen down 0.8 per cent.

“This weakness looks set to translate into a weaker European open this morning as investors, already concerned about Chinese growth, saw German ZEW economic sentiment expectations hit a one-year low,” wrote Michael Hewson at CMC Markets in London.

The ZEW figures were released on Tuesday. China’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.6 percent in September from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) said, falling short of expectations of 1.8 per cent and down from August’s 2.0 per cent.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that it will ease its monetary policy for the second time this year by slowing the pace of the Singapore dollar’s appreciation. The move was aimed at reviving an economy that narrowly avoided a recession in the third quarter.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.6 per cent in afternoon trade, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index ended down 1.9 per cent. Chinese shares were also lower, with the blue-chip CSI300 index down 0.9 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index losing 0.8 per cent.