Asian Stocks Drop as U.S. Retail Sales Fall Ahead of Chinese GDP

Asian Stocks Drop as U.S. Retail Sales Fall Ahead of Chinese GDP
By Jonathan Burgos - Apr 15, 2013 9:18 AM GMT+0800

Asian stocks dropped, with the regional benchmark index sliding from its biggest weekly gain in seven months, as investors await data on Chinese economic growth after U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell.
Nissan Motor Co. (7201), a Japanese carmaker that gets 32 percent of sales from North America, declined 2.1 percent. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s biggest gold producer, sank 6.9 percent in Sydney, after the bullion tumbled to to the lowest price in almost two years. Mando Corp., a South Korean supplier of automotive parts, tumbled 15 percent after announcing plans to support unprofitable Halla Engineering & Construction Corp.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.2 percent to 137.86 as of 10:17 a.m. in Tokyo before markets open in Hong Kong and China. The gauge jumped 3.5 percent last week, the biggest weekly gain since September, as the yen traded near 100 per dollar and slower-than-estimated inflation in China eased concern about monetary-policy tightening. Retail sales in the U.S. dropped in March by the most in nine months, government data released on April 12 showed.
“On a short-term basis, there’s concern over the fact that we’re getting slightly softer data out the U.S. in the past week,” said Angus Gluskie, managing director at Sydney-based White Funds Management, which oversees more than $350 million. “Over the medium-term, there’s probably more upside for the market as we get indications of a synchronized improvement in the global economy.”

Regional Gauges
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.8 percent after the U.S. Treasury department said it would urge Japan to refrain from pursuing policies to devalue its currency. The nation’s economy has shown signs of picking up, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said today in Tokyo.
South Korea’s Kospi index slid 0.4 percent, while Taiwan’s Taiex Index was little changed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.7 percent and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index was little changed.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) traded at 13.9 times estimated earnings compared with 14.4 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 12.6 times for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
S&P 500 futures were little changed. The gauge lost 0.3 percent on April 12 after the retail sales report and as commodities plunged and a gauge of consumer sentiment slipped.
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