Asia shares ease as weak China data weighs

Asia shares ease as weak China data weighs

HONG KONG: Asia stock markets opened lower on Tuesday despite fresh all-time highs on Wall Street, as worries about China's slowing economic growth and regulatory changes weighed on investor sentiment. MSCI's gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan slipped 0.25%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 fell more than 0.3% in the morning session. Japan's industrial output shrank in July as car production took a hit from a resurgence of the coronavirus in Asia that has cast doubt over recovery in the world's third-largest economy. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index .HSI and China's benchmark CSI300 Index opened down 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. China's factory activity expanded at a slower pace in August as coronavirus-related restrictions and high raw material prices pressure manufacturers in the world's second largest economy, while services activity contracted sharply, national data showed Tuesday. Beijing on Monday cut the amount of time players under the age of 18 can spend on online games to an hour on Fridays, weekends and holidays, which analysts expect to continue to weigh in on tech stocks. "Chinese tech sector is under pressure. Divergence should continue when market faces a lot of uncertainties over Chinese policies," said Edison Pun, senior market analyst at Saxo