Tokyo, May 12 (BNA): Most Asian stocks fell on Friday amid worries about US banks and falling demand from China, the main engine of growth in the region.
“Asian stocks struggled for direction after weak inflation data in China indicated weak demand,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
He said the latest data reflected very low inflation and weak credit extensions in China, which all point to slowing growth as the initial jump from the country dropping pandemic-related restrictions wore off.
In energy trading, US benchmark crude rose 30 cents to $71.17 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 23 cents to $75.21 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar settled unchanged at 134.52 Japanese yen. The price of the euro reached 1.0922 dollars, a slight increase from 1.0921 dollars.
insignificant