Asian shares erase gains after weak China GDP, pound pulls back

Asian shares stumbled on Friday after China posted its weakest growth in nearly three decades, countering a global lift in sentiment on the UK and European Union striking a long-awaited Brexit deal.

Asian shares

• MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.17% by 0350 GMT, erasing earlier small gains.
• Australian shares (AXJO) dropped 0.61% and Chinese blue-chips (CSI300) were off 0.65%.
• Japan’s Nikkei (N225) was last up 0.18%.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 0.09% to 27,025.88, the S&P 500 (SPX) finished up 0.28% at 2,997.97 and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) rose 0.4% to 8,156.85.
• S&P 500 e-mini stock futures were down 0.16% at 2,993.25.

Currency Markets

• In the currency market, the safe-haven yen strengthened, with the dollar falling 0.1% to 108.54, while the euro (EUR=) was up 0.04% on the day at $1.1126.
• The dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was barely lower at 97.592.

Commodities

• Oil fell, with U.S. crude (CLc1) dropping 0.17% to $53.84 a barrel and Brent crude (LCOc1) easing 0.45% to $59.64%.
• Spot gold rose to $1,492.54 per ounce.

Investing.com