Asia stocks slip on poor U.S., China data
HONG KONG - Asian stocks slumped Friday after a reports showed weak U.S. consumer spending and slowing Chinese industrial profit growth, casting doubts on whether the world's two biggest economies can rebound.
U.S. consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity, inched up in May at half the rate that economists had predicted. The poor reading disappointed investors who had been looking for stronger signs that the U.S. economy is bouncing back after shrinking 2.9 percent in the first quarter. Many had been predicting the contraction was a blip because of a harsh winter.
'The whole world is looking for a big (U.S.) GDP rebound in the second quarter. The whole world is likely to be disappointed,' economists at Singaporean bank DBS said in a research report.
Adding to the pessimism, Chinese industrial profits grew 8.9 percent in May, the slowest rate this year, a sign that the No. 2 economy continues to struggle with an extended slowdown.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.6 percent to 15,063.19 while South Korea's Kospi shed 0.3 percent to 1,987.99.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.2 percent to 23,155.86 while the Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China lost 0.4 percent to 2,031.62.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.1 percent to close at 16,846.13 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index sank 0.1 percent to close at 1,957.22. The Nasdaq was flat at 4,379.05.
In currencies, the dollar slipped to 101.32 Japanese yen from 101.66 yen in late trading Thursday. The euro rose to $1.3628 from $1.3615.
In energy trading, the price of U.S. benchmark crude for August delivery edged down 5 cents to $105.80 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 47 cents on Thursday.
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