Asia shares lower as China economic data miss expectations

Shares in Asia traded lower on Friday as China reported a slew of economic data that missed expectations, deepening worries about headwinds facing the world's second largest economy.

China reported that industrial production in November grew 5.4 percent year-on-year, lower than the 5.9 percent that Reuters projected. Retail sales in the country rose 8.1 percent last month, below the 8.8 percent expected and the weakest pace since 2003, according to Reuters' records.

Greater China markets fell on Friday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 1.37 percent by mid-day, the Shanghai composite was 0.57 percent weaker, while the Shenzhen composite slipped 0.932 percent.

"The latest data show an economy that is under pressure on both the external and domestic front, with policy efforts to shore up growth still falling short," Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note.

"Looking ahead, even if China and the US can negotiate a lasting truce on trade, cooling global growth and the lagged impact of slowing credit growth will remain a headwind on economic activity in the coming months," he added.

Australian markets also fell. The ASX 200 declined 0.84 percent and the Australian dollar was at 0.7190 against the U.S. dollar, below Thursday's 0.7226.

Other Asian markets were also in negative territory. South Korea's Kospi slipped 1.27 percent. Over in Japan, the Nikkei 225 dipped 1.42 percent, while the Topix index was down 0.96 percent.

Source: CNBC

Read more:

• US – Iran – Iraq tension remain the main driver of the stock market today
• How top market players on Wall St think 2020 will look like on financial markets
• Money Flow before the start of the new trading week
• Cincinnati Financial Corporation (CINF.US) -Opportunity for long positions
• Asia stocks gain as Fed signals no rate cuts in 2020