By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian stock markets rose Monday after
data showed China's economy grew in line with expectations in the
second quarter, belying some fears of a sharper slowdown.
The Shanghai Composite fronted the region's stock advances,
climbing 1.6% after data from the National Bureau of Statistics put
the quarterly gross domestic product growth at 7.5%.
Other economic data released Monday also eased worries, with
June retail sales, in particular, rising a better-than-expected
13.3%.
The GDP growth figure -- although weaker than the 7.7% expansion
recorded in the first quarter -- matched expectations in separate
surveys of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and Reuters.
It also followed a period of intense debate over the growth
trajectory, as analysts worried that the Chinese economy may face
more headwinds as Beijing refrained from providing additional
fiscal or monetary stimulus.
"The deceleration is a result of reduced domestic investment and
a weak global environment. Further deceleration is possible if
reforms and stimulus measures are delayed," said Moody's Analytics
economist Alaistair Chan.
The gains in Shanghai also came after China's Xinhua news
service -- which had late last week cited Finance Minister Lou
Jiwei as tipping 7% growth for 2013 -- corrected its story over the
weekend. The report said the minister had actually indicated the
economy would expand 7.5% this year, in line with the government's
official target.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4%, while
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 and South Korea's Kospi each added
0.3%, with all three of them erasing earlier losses in the wake of
the Chinese data.
Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.
"After all the conjecture over the weekend, the latest batch of
Chinese economic data was largely in line with economist
forecasts," said CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian.
"The good news is that retail sales lifted for the fifth
consecutive month, and while not at heady 15%-plus growth rates
seen a year ago, it still provides a degree of encouragement,"
Sebastian said.
Several Chinese banks rallied to lead the rebound in Shanghai.
China Citic Bank Corp. (CHCJY) climbed 6.7%, more than tripling its
gains before the GDP data were released, while Bank of
Communications Co. (BCMXY), or BoCom, rose 2.8%.
Chinese banks also fared well in Hong Kong, with China
Construction Bank Corp. (CICHY) rising 1.1%, and BoCom adding
1.2%.
The banking-led advance also followed data released by the
People's Bank of China after the market close on Friday showing a
slowdown in June in total social financing -- the broadest measure
of bank loans and bond issuances -- from the May level.
Meanwhile, China's statistics bureau said Monday that the
non-performing loan ratio at the country's commercial banks sat at
1%, up slightly from 0.9% in the first half of 2012 but still
relatively low.
Meanwhile, the stock performance in Asia followed a third
straight week of gains for U.S. equities, after the Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJI) and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index
ended at record highs Friday.
Major miners in Australia erased their losses after the Chinese
economic data to aid the market's recovery. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP)
and Rio Tinto Ltd. were both marginally higher after dropping
earlier in the day.
Also supporting the market, the recently battered shares of
surfwear maker Billabong International Ltd. (BBG.AU) extended
Friday's rebound, climbing a further 6.5%.
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