AFP, Hong Kong :
Asian markets mostly fell Tuesday as investors cashed in after enjoying their best rally so far this year, while China released data showing another hefty slump in exports and Brent oil retreated from near 2016 highs.
Profit-takers made the most of the latest surge in prices that has come on the back of upbeat US data and hopes that China will ramp up its efforts to kickstart the world’s number two economy.
Figures from Beijing showed exports dived more than a quarter on-year in February, while imports were almost 14 percent off, far worse than forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.
The numbers are the latest to highlight weakness in the economy, although officials pointed out that they were skewed by the Chinese New Year holiday that saw factories shut down for a week.
The timing of Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar, and shifts every year.
However, Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economic research at HSBC Holdings in Hong Kong, said: “Exports got pummelled again in February, highlighting the downturn in global demand.
“It’s easy to blame Chinese New Year distortions, but there is a much deeper malaise that is becoming apparent in the numbers.”
However, Shanghai stocks, which slumped more than two percent at one point, ended 0.1 percent higher. Hong Kong lost 0.7 percent in the afternoon.
The figures come as China’s leaders hold their annual policy gathering, which started Saturday with Premier Li Keqiang targeting 6.5-7 percent economic growth this year.
The lower and wider band indicates leaders accept the tough work ahead as they look to recalibrate the giant economy from one dependent on exports and investment to domestic-driven growth.
In Japan the government said the world’s number three economy contracted slightly less than first thought in the final three months of 2015. But the minor improvement was scant consolation for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose big-spending, loose monetary policy blitz to reinvigorate the economy has been called into question by a series of disappointing readings.
