Shares were mixed in Asia on Monday after China reported that its economy expanded at an 8.1% annual pace in 2021, though growth slowed to half that level in...
BANGKOK — Shares were mixed in Asia on Monday after China reported that its economy expanded at an 8.1% annual pace in 2021, though growth slowed to half that level in the last quarter.
The Shanghai Composite index SHCOMP, +0.60% gained 0.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng HSI, -0.79% dropped 0.7%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.32% edged 0.1% higher. Stocks slipped in Indonesia JAKIDX, -0.56%, but rose slightly in Singapore STI, +0.04% and Taiwan Y9999, +0.53%. “Economic momentum remains weak amid repeated virus outbreaks and a struggling property sector,” Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a commentary. He expects China’s policymakers to keep limits on lending relatively tight and control credit growth.
On Friday, the S&P 500 SPX, +0.08% eked out a 0.1% gain to 4,662.85, surging in the final minutes of trading after having been down about 1% earlier in the day. The tech-heavy Nasdaq COMP, +0.59% posted a 0.6% gain, closing at 14,893.75. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.56% fell 0.6% to 35,911.81.
The Commerce Department reported Friday that retail sales sank 1.9% in December after Americans cut their spending in the face of product shortages, rising prices and the onset of the omicron variant.