The skyline of the central business district in Beijing on August 13, 2019. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
WANG ZHAO | AFP | Getty Images
Markets in mainland China and Hong Kong rebounded Friday after the world’s second-largest economy posted better-than-expected economic growth. Elsewhere most Asia-Pacific markets were lower.
China’s third-quarter GDP grew 4.6% compared to the same period last year, slightly above estimates by economists in a Reuters poll but down from 4.7% in the previous quarter.
The rate was at its lowest level since the middle of last year, moving further away from Beijing’s 5% annual growth target.
Data for the month of September showed that retail sales beat estimates to grow 3.2% year on year, while China’s industrial output also grew faster than expected at 5.4%.
Meanwhile, China’s house prices fell 5.8% year-over-year in September, a larger drop than 5.3% in August.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 was trading up 0.7% as investors ingested the data. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.7% in choppy trading.
Japan’s headline inflation for September came in at 2.5%, while core CPI — which excludes fresh food prices — rose 2.4% year on year compared with Reuters estimates of 2.3%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 hovered around the flatline, last trading 0.04% higher, while the broad-based Topix was down slightly.
South Korea’s blue-chip Kospi slipped 0.7%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was down 1.9%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.9%.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to a new record close after strong economic data eased lingering fears of a potential recession. The blue-chip index rose 161 points, or 0.37%, to 43,239.05.
The S&P 500 closed down 0.02% to settle at 5,841.47 after hitting an intraday record earlier in the session.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.04% inched higher, as chipmakers rallied, to end at 18,373.61.
All three indexes are tracking for their sixth straight positive week.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
