World’s Second-Largest Economy and its Impact on Stocks

Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on April 13 as investors watched for market reaction to the release of Chinese trade data. 

Mainland Chinese stocks suffered losses on April 13. The Shanghai composite declined 0.82% to finish its trading day at 3,186.82. The Shenzhen component fell 1.601% to close at 11,568.17.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained about 0.1%, as of its final hour of trading. 

Data released on April 13 showed Chinese exports rising more than expected in the first month of spring. The country’s dollar-denominated exports rose 14.7% year-on-year in March, according to official customs data. Chinese imports, on the contrary, saw a 0.1% year-on-year decrease in March. 

Investors are also closely monitoring the situation regarding the Covid-19 in mainland China. In the last several weeks, the mainland part of the country faced its worst Covid-19 outbreak since the initial phase of the pandemic in early 2020.

On the contrary, Japanese stocks saw gains on the day. The Nikkei 225 advanced 1.93% to end its trading day at 26,843.49. Meanwhile, the Topix index gained 1.42% to close at 1,890.06.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.86% to 2,716.49. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia advanced 0.34% higher to end its trading day at 7,479.

U.S. stocks declined on April 12, after an early morning bounce gave way to selling as investors weighed the latest U.S. inflation data. 

The latest inflation report showed another sharp increase in prices for last month. 

The S&P 500 fell 0.34% to 4,397.45. On April 12, the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.30% to 13,371.57. Both of them posted losses for a third trading day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 87.72 points lower, or 0.26% to 34,220.36. 

Tech stocks fell on April 12. Microsoft dropped 1.1% and Nvidia fell 1.9%. 

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