Asian stocks down for Friday as China data weighs

Risk-off marks the end of this trading week for the Asian bourses as major indexes dip red once again.
China Retail Sales missed big today, coming in at 8.1% (expected 8.8%), while Industrial Production slipped to 5.4% (expected 5.9%).

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

Asian equities remain off-balance for Friday as risk aversion returns to the fold, knocking bullish traders off-balance and keeping safe haven assets well-bid to cap off the trading week, with a missed data reading from China further entrenching the Pacific sector in the red as investor sentiment continues to skew towards the downside.

Despite a bumper reading in Japan's Tankan indicators early Friday, Japanese stocks are in the red for the day amidst broader market tensions and still-rising trade war fears, and the Nikkei 225 index is down about -1.90% with Tokyo's Topix index declining -1.40% for Friday; China is likewise off-balance after Chinese Retail Sales and Industrial Production both missed market estimates, and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index is retreating -1.50% with Shanghai's CSI 300 down -1.00%. Australia, forever tied closely to China in both trade and economic growth, is also seeing traders retreat on the day's data miss, and the ASX 200 is down -1.05% for Friday.

Despite the usual market fray plaguing Asian stocks, emerging markets are remaining comparatively upright, with the MSCI broad Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) index up nearly 0.55% on the day.

Nikkei 225 Technical Levels

Nikkei 225

Overview:
    Today Last Price: 21405
    Today Daily change: -4.9e+4 pips
    Today Daily change %: -2.24%
    Today Daily Open: 21895
Trends:
    Previous Daily SMA20: 21754.32
    Previous Daily SMA50: 21948.23
    Previous Daily SMA100: 22515.56
    Previous Daily SMA200: 22431.19
Levels:
    Previous Daily High: 21920
    Previous Daily Low: 21685
    Previous Weekly High: 22720
    Previous Weekly Low: 21075
    Previous Monthly High: 22570
    Previous Monthly Low: 21180
    Previous Daily Fibonacci 38.2%: 21830.23
    Previous Daily Fibonacci 61.8%: 21774.77
    Previous Daily Pivot Point S1: 21746.67
    Previous Daily Pivot Point S2: 21598.33
    Previous Daily Pivot Point S3: 21511.67
    Previous Daily Pivot Point R1: 21981.67
    Previous Daily Pivot Point R2: 22068.33
    Previous Daily Pivot Point R3: 22216.67

Author

Joshua Gibson

FXStreet

Joshua joins the FXStreet team as an Economics and Finance double major from Vancouver Island University with twelve years' experience as an independent trader focusing on technical analysis.

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