Asia Pacific Stocks Mainly Fall

Asia-Pacific stocks mostly fell on Tuesday as investors reacted to the release of revised first-quarter Japanese gross domestic product data.

 

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.19% to close at 28,963.56, while the Topix rose about 0.1% on the day to 1,962.65.

 

Revised government data released on Tuesday showed that Japan's economy contracted 3.9% in the first quarter, an improvement from an initial estimate of a 5.1% contraction. Revised gross domestic product versus economists' median forecast for 4.8% contraction in Reuters poll.

 

“We expect the economy to experience another contraction in the second quarter, given the expanded restrictions, which will put severe pressure, especially on the services sector,” Makoto Tsuchiya, an assistant economist at Oxford Economics, wrote Tuesday. “However, we remain optimistic that the pace of recovery will pick up in the second half as domestic demand recovers, supported by increased vaccinations, while external demand should continue to support the manufacturing sector.”

 

Mainland China stocks closed lower, with the Shanghai composite shedding 0.54% to 3,580.11 and the Shenzhen component dropping 0.98% to 14,716.98. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell about 0.1% in the last hour of trading.

 

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.13% to close the day at 3,247.83. Australia's S&P / ASX 200 closed 0.15% higher at 7,292.60

 

MSCI, the largest stock index in Asia Pacific, fell 0.23%.

 

The US Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of peers, was at 90.158 after an earlier low of 89.955.

 

The Japanese yen traded at 109.48 against the dollar, above levels above 110 against the dollar last week. The Aussie changed hands at $ 0.7741, largely holding up after rising below $ 0.768 last week.

 

Oil prices were lower in Asian afternoon trading and international benchmark Brent crude oil futures fell 0.62% to $ 71.05 a barrel. US oil futures fell 0.61% to $ 68.81 a barrel.