Asian shares slip from decade-high after disappointing Chinese data
Tokyo — Asian stocks inched down from 10-year highs on Thursday following a burst of Chinese data that was largely weaker than markets expected, while the dollar held steady ahead of US inflation data due later in the day. China’s fixed-asset investment, factory output and retail sales all grew less than expected, reinforcing views that the world’s second-largest economy is gradually beginning to lose steam in the face of rising borrowing costs. That took some of the shine off China’s surprisingly robust growth in the first half of the year, which has helped fuel stronger global demand, particularly for commodities, but analysts do not see a risk of a sharp slowdown in its economic momentum. The Australian dollar, often used as a liquid proxy of China-linked trades, pared gains after the Chinese readings but was still up 0.3% at $0.8006 after a much stronger than expected jobs report. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.1% after rising to its high...
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