Asian Markets Pare Gains after Chinese Trade Data

Rouhan Sharma is an assistant site editor for Morningstar.com based in Mumbai, India.

The Nikkei declined 0.3%. The Shanghai Composite and the Hang Seng were up 0.4% each. The Sensex opened flat and the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries added 0.4%.

Data showed Chinese exports dropped 3.1% in June over the previous year while imports contracted 0.7%. Expectations were for exports to rise 4%, and 8% for imports.

In Japan, the country?s apex bank began their two-day policy meeting while data earlier in the day showed Japan?s corporate goods price index rose 1.2% in June, after rising 0.6% in May.

On Tuesday, the IMF again lowered its 2013 global growth forecast to 3.1% from an earlier forecast of 3.3% made in April. It also lowered its 2014 growth estimate to 3.8% from 4% earlier.

Some energy shares gained after oil futures traded higher following API?s weekly inventories data. Fears that the flow of oil through the Suez Canal could be affected due to unrest in Egypt also fuelled prices. Later today, the U.S. Energy department will release its more widely-followed weekly inventories data.

Stocks on the Move

Shares of retailer Aeon rose about 2% after the company reported an increase in quarterly profit.? Other peer-group stocks also gained with Isetan Mitsukoshi rising 3.5%.

Asahi Group Holdings gained 2%.

Sony was down half a percent along with most other major electronic goods exporters. Canon edged 0.2% lower while Toshiba and Sharp declined about 1.4% each. Panasonic was up 0.7%.

Auto exporters were also mostly lower as Toyota reversed 0.2% while Mazda backed down 1.6%. Honda declined 0.8%.

PetroChina Co. was up 0.2% in Hong Kong, while China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. climbed almost a percent.

Aluminum Corp. of China was down 0.4%. Its mainland-listed shares traded flat.

Property shares were among the major gainers on the mainland as Gemdale Corp. advanced 0.9% and the broader Shenzhen-listed China Vanke rose 1.5%.

Losers outnumbered gainers in a weak Mumbai market as Tata Steel fell 1.7%. Gail India fell 1%. A number of stocks including Jindal Steel, HUL, Tata Motors and others were down in a range between 0.5% and 1%.

Alumina was up about 3% in Sydney after US producer Alcoa posted better-than-expected results late Monday night and washed away concerns of a slowdown in China affecting future demand.

Index leader BHP Billiton was up about a percent along with major miner Rio Tinto.

Woodside Petroleum pared intraday gains and traded flat.

Source: http://news.morningstar.com/article/article.asp?id=602237&pgid=rss

Tom Cruise ryan reynolds Star Trek: The Original Series Carlton Morgan Freeman Dead Stand Up to Cancer