China shares trade lower even as economic data beats expectations; South Korea leads gains in Asia

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Monday trade as investors reacted to the latest Chinese economic data for October.

Mainland Chinese stocks were lower, with the Shanghai composite slipping around 0.3% while the Shenzhen component dipped 0.605%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index sat fractionally lower.

The losses came despite Chinese economic data coming in better than expected.

Data released Monday showed retail sales in China rose 4.9% year-on-year in October, higher than the 3.5% gain predicted in a Reuters poll. Industrial output for the month also grew 3.5% compared to a year ago, beating expectations by analysts in a Reuters poll for a 3% increase.

Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.04%, leading gains among the region’s major markets as shares of chipmaker SK Hynix soared more than 4%.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.47% as shares of conglomerate SoftBank Group jumped more than 2%. The Topix index gained 0.32%.

Preliminary estimates released Monday showed Japan’s gross domestic product declining an annualized 3% in the July-September quarter, far worse than the median market forecast for a 0.8% contraction, according to Reuters.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.34%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.33% higher.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 95.01 following a recent rise from below 94.5.

The Japanese yen traded at 113.86 per dollar, following last week’s weakening from levels below 113 against the greenback. The Australian dollar was at $0.734, having slipped from above $0.74 last week.

Oil prices declined in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.86% to $81.46 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 0.79% to $80.15 per barrel.