Asian Stocks Decline as Japanese Shares Slump Amid Economic Data

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Asian stocks fell, ahead of Chinese data on inflation and factory prices, as Japanese shares retreated amid a slump in machine orders. Energy producers climbed as U.S. oil topped $40 a barrel.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.4 percent to 125.83 as of 9:08 a.m. in Tokyo. Global stocks fell last week amid concern over the potency of central bank stimulus efforts and a selloff in Japanese equities. Focus now turns to Monday’s data from China and first-quarter earnings in the U.S.

South Korea’s Kospi index slipped 0.1 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed and New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index added less than 0.1 percent.

Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index were down 0.2 percent and contracts on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 0.3 percent. FTSE China A50 Index futures rose 0.1 percent in most recent trading. China is due to report data on consumer and producer prices.

Source: Bloomberg