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Asian stocks mixed amid Fed uncertainty

Asian stocks kicked off Monday mixed, as traders digest a slew of Chinese data released over the weekend and tread cautiously ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week.

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By CNBCTV18September 14, 2015, 9:10:03 AM IST IST (Updated)

Asian stocks mixed amid Fed uncertainty
Asian stocks kicked off Monday mixed, as traders digest a slew of Chinese data released over the weekend and tread cautiously ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week.


Growth in China's fixed-asset investment and industrial production missed expectations in August, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Sunday, suggesting further cooling in the world's second-biggest economy that will likely prompt the government to roll out more support measures.


Retail sales were the lone positive surprise, growing 10.8 percent in August from a year earlier, above forecasts of 10.5 percent.

"Further deceleration in investments and imports plunge remain worrying. This ups the likelihood of more China stimulus, but dampens the Fed jumping the gun," analysts at Mizuho Bank wrote in an e-mail note released early Monday.

"We expect the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) [to] signal an initial a measured tightening soon, but hold off a [September] rate hike, line with IMF and World Bank's reservations," the note added.

The World Bank's chief economist joined Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, in warning that a rate rise could trigger "panic and turmoil" in emerging markets, according to a report by the Financial Times last Tuesday.

Beijing has also issued guidance on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) reforms, including the introduction of "mixed ownership" of state firms, state media Xinhua said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Wall Street finished higher last Friday, with the S&P 500 closing up 0.45 percent to post its biggest weekly gain since July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.63 and 0.54 percent respectively.

Shanghai Comp flat

China's Shanghai Composite index saw a relatively muted open, while other major indexes in the country slipped below the flatline.

The CSI300 Index — which tracks the country's largest publicly traded companies — shed 0.2 percent, while the Shenzhen Composite inched down 0.4 percent.

Nikkei slips 0.3 percent

Japan's Nikkei 225 index reversed a higher open, as heavyweight components, financials and energy-related plays headed south.

SoftBank lost 5.7 percent, while other telecommunications shares such as NTT Docomo fell 5.3 percent and KDDI eased 7.1 percent after reports said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe noted that mobile fees should be lowered. Inpex and Fuji Oil declined 4.1 and 2.7 percent respectively.

Nissan Motor shares opened marginally below the flatline following news from last Friday that a joint venture of the carmaker has been fined 123 million yuan ($19.3 million) by Chinese regulators on price-fixing charges.
Among early-trade winners, railroad stocks such as Central Japan Railway and Odakyu Electric Railway elevated 0.9 and 1.6 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kickstarts its two-day policy meeting. Analysts are expecting the central bank to maintain its expansionary monetary policy, though signs of persisting weakness in the economy are driving some market speculation for further easing.

ASX gains 0.4 percent

Australia's S&P ASX 200 index recouped last Friday's losses, thanks to hefty buy orders among financial counters.

Investment bank Macquarie Group jumped 2.4 percent, lifted by an announcement that it expects a 40 percent jump in profit for the first-half ending September.
National Australia Bank and Westpac climbed more than 2 percent each, while Australia and New Zealand Banking rose 2 percent. Commonwealth Bank of Australia hovered in neutral territory, following news that the lender has raised AUSD5.1 billion (USD 3.6 billion) through a rights issue after completing a retail bookbuild.

By contrast, Oil Search slid nearly 3 percent from the get-go after it rejected an USD 8 billion takeover proposal from Woodside Petroleum. Shares of the latter dropped 0.7 percent.

Kospi flat

South Korea's Kospi index pared early gains amid mixed trading in key heavyweights.

Samsung Electronics shares edged up 0.3 percent, but other blue chips such as Hyundai Motor and Posco slipped 0.6 and 0.3 percent respectively.
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