* Asia shares slip as China GDP data fails to surprise
* Aussie dlr wavers on China economic news, yuan ease in
NDFs
* Slump in Japanese exports adds downward pressure on
shares
By Susan Fenton
HONG KONG, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Asian shares fell on
Thursday, and the Australian dollar briefly retreated, amid
disappointment that Chinese growth data, though robust, offered
few surprises.
News that China's economy surged 8.9 percent in the third
quarter, and retail sales and other indicators were robust in
September, reinforced optimism that Asia is on a sustainable
recovery path. [] But the outcome was widely
expected, giving investors little to trade on.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index <> was down 1 percent while
shares in Shanghai <> dipped 0.3 percent.
"The Chinese economy has taken off, but it is flying on one
engine, China's recovery has been impressive but it has been
heavily reliant on government-directed investment funded by
aggressive bank lending," said Brian Jackson, a strategist at
Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong.
"To keep the economy moving at a fast pace we need to see a
more broad-based recovery."
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell 1 percent and the Thomson Reuters index of
regional shares <.TRXFLDAXPU> was down 0.6 percent.
The dollar edged up 0.3 percent to 75.169, having earlier
hit a fresh 14-month low of 74.94, as expectations strong China
data would encourage buying of higher-yielding assets like the
Australian and New Zealand currencies failed to materialise.
The Aussie dollar <AUD=> briefly slipped on disappointment
the China data was not more upbeat, but it quickly recovered.
There was disappointment in the Chinese yuan <CNY=CFXS>
offshore non-deliverable forwards market too. Yuan eased in
NDFs on the economic data, after facing upward pressure this
week on expectations a rebounding Chinese economy would
encourage Beijing to allow currency appreciation.
Japan's Nikkei index <> fell 1.2 percent with
exporters losing ground. Sentiment was not helped by data
showing Japanese exports slumped 30 percent in September, with
a rising yen <JPY=> aggravating declining demand. []
"What's needed now is for consumption to recover in the
United States, which is the major market for high value-added
Japanese goods. In that sense, it may take time for exports to
stage a full-fledged expansion," said Takeshi Minami, chief
economist at Norinchukin Research Institute in Tokyo.
Equity markets across the region were cautious after a late
sell-off in financial shares pushed the Dow Jones <.DJIA> down
nearly 1 percent on Wednesday, overshadowing upbeat earnings
from Morgan Stanley <MS.N> and Yahoo Inc <YHOO.O>.
In Asia, newspaper reports said Japanese car maker Honda
Motor Co <7267.T> and tech giant Toshiba <6502.T> were both on
course to beat their own projections and post first-half
operating profits, but their shares were flat amid the market
slide. [] []
Oil <CLc1> held above $81 a barrel after jumping to a
one-year high at $81.37 on Wednesday on news of a sharp
drawdown in U.S. gasoline stocks.
South Korea treasuries fell, tracking U.S. Treasuries,
after the Bank of England raised anxiety over an exit strategy
[] and on uncertainty over whether Citigroup will
include Korean bonds in its World Government Bond Index.
December treasury bond futures <KTBc1> fell 12 ticks to
108.36.
(Additional reporting by Rie Ishiguro in TOKYO; editing by
Kazunori Takada)
