Asian stocks sink on US turbulence, weak China growth

Asian stock prices tumbled Wednesday after the IMF’s lower growth forecast added to anxiety over Wall Street turbulence and a weaker Chinese economy. The pain was felt widely with Australian stocks down 1.3 per cent and South Korea off 2.3 per cent. Chinese markets fared only marginally better than regional counterparts amid mounting talk that more stimulus may be on the way, possibly before the Lunar New Year holidays in early February.

The lifting of worldwide sanctions on Iran could add 300,000 barrels a day of crude by the end of the first quarter, reducing the effect of the 600,000-barrel-a-day reduction expected from producers outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the IEA said.

British Land gained 1.8 per cent after the commercial property firm issued a strong third-quarter update. USA shares were set for a sharp rise.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was up 11 cents to $30.50 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

China, a major buyer of commodities, posted fourth-quarter growth of 6.8 per cent, the slowest rate of expansion since 2009. Its stock rose $3.31, or 3 percent, to $112.58. The CSI300 was down 1.64 percent. That should change this week, as Elevate Capital, which offers credit and related services to people with below-average credit, is expected to start trading Friday.

“For 2016, we expect that the Chinese leaders will keep the situation of a managed slowdown largely under control, albeit with bouts of stress as financial liberalisation goes on”, Susan Joho, economist at Julius Baer, said in a note. There were also just two IPOs in December, the fewest in any month since October 2011.

LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) – UK shares rebounded on Tuesday from their lowest closing level in three years in the previous session after Chinese GDP figures met expectations while leaving room for further stimulus. This inflated rate is maintained by Chinese manipulation, and the fact that Chinese authorities are now allowing it sink closer to its fair market value has many anxious that they believe the Chinese economy is weaker than they are leading on.

France’s CAC 40 rose 2.1 per cent to 4,279.24 and Germany’s DAX added 1.9 per cent to 9,703.75. “China’s somewhat mystifying 3 percent rally in the Shanghai Composite was quickly lost at the open, killing sentiment across the whole Asian region”.

Tokyo’s Nikkei index rose for the first time in four days, ending 0.6 per cent higher. Yields on USA 10-year Treasuries declined to 2.02 per cent and were down a massive 25 basis points since the new year began. The euro rose to $1.0923 from $1.0885.

In other trading of energy futures, the price of wholesale gasoline inched up 0.5 cents to $1.026 a gallon. Natural gas slipped 0.9 cents to $2.091 per 1,000 cubic feet.