Asia stocks decline on Japan, China slowdown fears; Nikkei dips 0.15%

Investing.com - Asian stock markets were mostly lower during late Asian trade on Monday, after a report showing Japan’s economy slowed more-than-expected added to fears over the weakening global economic outlook.

Growing expectations policy makers around the world will introduce fresh stimulus measures to help spur weak global growth limited losses.

During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.4%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index eased up 0.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dipped 0.15%.

Official data released earlier in the day showed that Japan’s economy expanded by a modest 0.3% in the April-to-June period, disappointing expectations for a 0.6% increase.

On an annualized basis, the country’s gross domestic product rose 1.4% in the second quarter, below forecasts for growth of 2.3% and slowing sharply from an upwardly revised 5.5% in the preceding quarter.

The weak data came after a report on Friday showed that Chinese exports grew just 1.0% on the year in July, down sharply from the 11.3% gain seen in June, while imports rose 4.7% year-over-year, down from 6.3% in June.

A deeper slowdown in China would impair a global expansion that is already faltering because of the euro zone’s ongoing debt crisis.

Despite the gloomy global outlook, investors were reluctant to sell equities amid ongoing expectations that central banks around the world would soon announce additional stimulus measures to help spur weak global growth.

In Tokyo, shares in Sharp dropped 4.3%. The troubled electronics maker has been under pressure ever since revising down its earnings forecast to a deep operating loss on August 2.

Shares in Taiheiyo Cement tumbled 4.5% after the company reported an operating profit of JPY490 million in the April-to-June quarter, below expectations for profit of JPY1 billion.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, shares in raw material producers dragged the Hang Seng lower, amid concerns over a slowdown in demand.

Aluminum maker CHALCO fell 3%, Jiangxi Copper Company lost 1.1%, while oil giant PetroChina slumped 1%.

Elsewhere, shares in Australia managed to outperform regional equities as investors focused on corporate news.

Shares in BlueScope Steel soared 36.5% after announcing plans to form a building-products alliance with Japan’s Nippon Steel.

Gold miner Newcrest Mining also contributed too gains, rising 4.7% after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Looking ahead, the outlook for European stock markets was broadly lower.

The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.8% at the open, France’s CAC 40 futures declined 0.9%, London’s FTSE 100 futures shed 0.5%, while Germany's DAX futures pointed to a drop of 0.7% at the open.

Neither the euro zone or the U.S. were scheduled to release any significant economic data on Monday, so investors were looking ahead to U.S. data on retail sales and inflation later in the week.