Shares in Asia mixed as China rate cut aids Shanghai, but Sydney down

Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Monday with Tokyo flipping between gains and losses and China shares up after a weekend cut by a full percentage point of the amount of cash banks must keep as reserve.

The Nikkei 225 rose 0.20% after the break and the Shnghai Composite jumped 1.03%, while the Hang Seng index eased 0.31%. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.85%

On Sunday, China's central bank announced over the weekend that it lowered the amount of deposits it requires banks to hold as reserves to 18.5% from 19.5% effective April 20 in a surprise decision.

The move came after official data showed that China’s economy grew 7.0% in the first quarter, the slowest pace of growth since the global financial crisis in 2008.

Data on industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment also fell short of forecasts, indicating that China needs to act to prevent a further slowdown in the economy.

The Asian nation is a top oil importer.

Also on Monday, New Zealand reported that first quarter consumer prices fell 0.3% quarter-on-quarter, more than the 0.2% drop seen.

Last week, stocks on the U.S. equities markets took a nosedive on Friday, posting one of their sharpest daily losses of the year as Chinese regulators roiled global markets by cracking down on margin trading and loosening regulations on short selling.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 275 points on the session to retreat to 17,826.30, nearly erasing all of its gains for the year.

Also last week, investors pushed back expectations for higher U.S. interest rates after a recent run of soft economic data dampened optimism on the recovery.

The Labor Department reported that the consumer price index edged up 0.2% last month, matching a similar gain in February. On a year-over-year basis, consumer prices dipped 0.1% in March after remaining flat in February.

Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs increased 0.2% in March for an annual increase of 1.8%, the largest since October.

The report came after data earlier in the week showed that U.S. retail sales for March came in below expectations. Another report, showing a larger-than-forecast drop in industrial output pointed to a slowdown the first quarter.

The single currency strengthened in spite of concerns that Athens is no closer to reaching an agreement on economic reforms for bailout funds with its creditors, fuelling fears that Greece could be forced out of the euro zone.