MARKETS: Dispersion in Asia – better-than-expected macro data from China

Asian stock markets were mixed on Friday. Investors melted so the head of the Fed Jerome Powell comments on future interest rate cuts as well as Asian macroeconomic publications.

At the time of review, mainland China’s CSI 300 index was down 0.9 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.4 percent, Tokyo’s Nikkei index was up 0.6 percent, and Korea’s Kospi index was up 0.1 percent.

Powell commented on Thursday that the central bank is in no rush to lower interest rates. According to Powell, the economic growth in the United States allows decision-makers to make decisions in peace about how far and quickly the interest rate will be lowered.

In China, retail sales grew more than preliminary expectations in October, while industrial production and the amount of investments fell short of expectations. Retail sales grew 4.8 percent year-on-year, while the consensus forecast collected by Reuters expected a 3.8 percent increase. In September, the growth was 3.2 percent.

Industrial production grew by 5.3 percent, while the consensus predicted a growth of 5.6 percent.

China’s urban unemployment rate fell to 5.0 percent, compared to 5.1 percent in September.

In Japan, the development of the gross national product broke the contraction pipeline. In the third quarter, GDP rose by 0.3 percent year-on-year and by 0.2 percent from the previous quarter.

At 8:14 a.m. one euro fetched 1.05 dollars, 164.90 yen, 0.83 pounds and 11.58 Swedish kronor. The dollar was 156.46 yen and the pound was 1.26 dollars.

On the basis of futures, Wall Street is expected to open downward.

A decline in Europe is also expected.