06:49 AM EDT, 04/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets slumped Tuesday on overnight Wall Street cues and after mixed economic bulletins from Beijing dented outlooks.

Washington's strong March retail report issued Tuesday underlined outlooks for a "higher-for-longer" and tighter Federal Reserve, while China retail and industrial reports for March underwhelmed trading floor denizens, even though a Q1 GDP bulletin met with favor.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the red, as did other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower and drifted, finishing off 1.9% on rising interest rates and prospects for Japan officials to intervene in the declining exchange rate of the yen, by restricting monetary policy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 1.9% to 38,471.20, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 191 to 33.

Leading the upside was entertainment house Toho, gaining 7.4%, while J. Front Retailing lost 9.2%.

In economic news, the Japanese yen struck a fresh-34-year low, moving towards 155 yen to the US dollar.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and descended to the close, finishing down 2.1% after a raft of economic reports from Beijing pointed to a still uncertain China economy.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 351.49 to 16,248.87, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 79 to three. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 3% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1.2%.

Leading the thin upside was PetroChina, gaining 0.7%, while smartphone-components maker Sunny Optical Technology fell 6.4%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.7% to 3,007.07.

In economic news, mainland China's gross domestic product (GDP), boosted by a strong industrial sector and export buoyancy, expanded by 5.3% in Q1 on year, reported the National Bureau of Statistics. However, retail sales expanded by a modest 3.1% on year in March, and industrial production rose by 4.5% on year in the month, below expectations, and fueling concerns the nation's recovery from the pandemic era is uncertain.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI fell 2.3%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 2.7%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 1.8%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 1.2%, and the Thai Set declined 0.8%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.6%.

http://www.mtnewswires.com
Copyright © 2024 MT Newswires. All rights reserved. MT Newswires does not provide investment advice. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.