Asian-Pacific markets were mixed on Friday as investors braced a market response to China’s disappointing GDP growth in the second quarter.
As of 9.30 hrs. local time in Thailand, mainland China’s Shanghai Composite was fractionally higher, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.05% and Nikkei 225 in Japan gained 0.62%.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.19%, and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 0.76%.
Official data released on Friday revealed that China’s economic growth slowed sharply in the second quarter, growing by 0.4% on a yearly basis and below expectations as broad lockdowns to curb the Covid-19 pandemic impacted industrial production and consumer spending.
China’s GDP growth in the second quarter of this year was the lowest since the first quarter of 2020, when the Covid outbreak began.
Furthermore, industrial output in China has increased by 3.9% in June, accelerating from a 0.7% gain in May, but falling short of the 4.1% rise that analysts in a Reuters poll had projected.
