Asian Markets Closed Mixed, Japan's GDP Shrank

Barry Adams
18 May, 2022
New York City

Asian markets closed mixed after Japan reported GDP and industrial production data. 

Japan's GDP in the first quarter contracted at 1% annualized rate, the Cabinet Office said today. 

The preliminary data showed that the economy rose at 0.2% rate after adjusting for seasonality factors. 

The decline was less than the 1.8% fall estimated by many economists. The GDP growth data for the previous quarter was lowered to 3.8% increase from the 5.4% rise in the preliminary estimate. 

The weakness in international trade dragged the economic activities lower. 

Industrial production in March rose 0.3% after adjusting for seasonal factors, the report from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry noted today. 

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index increased 251.45 or 0.94% to close at 26,911.20. 

IHI Corp led the gainers with a surge of 5% followed by 4% rise in JSW, Kobe Steel, NTT Data, and Fujitsu. 

In Mumbai, the Sensex index declined 0.2% or 194.04 to 54,208.53 and the Nifty index decreased 0.12% or 19.0 to 16,240.30. 

Stocks closed down after a 2-day rally and investors focused on rising food and energy prices. 

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.2% to 20,644.28 and the SSE index in Shanghai declined 0.3% to 3,085.98. 

In Seoul, the Kospi index gained a fraction to close at 2,625.98 in lackluster trading with a negative trading bias in tech and retail stocks. 

 In Sydney, ASX 200 index gained nearly 1% to 7,182.50 after resource and bank stocks led the advance. 

South32 surged 5% and BHP Group gained 3%. 

Champion Iron jumped 5% after the company agreed to acquire Quebec, Canada based iron ore palletizing facility from a steelmaker.