Asia Markets Plunge to Negative Territory as China Cuts Its 2019 Economic Growth to 6.0%

The positive sentiment from trade deal between the U.S. and China does not stay for long after China has cut its economic growth target in 2019 from 6.5% to 6.0%. China reported GDP growth of 6.6% in 2018, the slowest pace since 1990.

Premier Li Keqiang also said the country sees a budget deficit of 2.8% of GDP and the Finance Ministry set the quota for local government’s special bond issues at 2.15 trillion yuan, 0.8 trillion yuan above last year’s quota.

“We must be fully prepared for a tough struggle,” said Li at the opening of the annual National People’s Congress, which is being held today.

 

An unexpected fall in U.S. construction spending, data that normally attracts little attention, was cited as a factor as well. On Monday, Dow Jones plunged 0.79%, S&P 500 slipped 0.39% and Nasdaq skidded 0.23% while VIX rose 7.81% to 14.63 points.

At 9:35 in Thailand, Nikkei fell 0.70%, SSEC dipped 0.18%, HSI slipped 0.58, ASX 200 sank 0.48% and KOSPI plunged 0.68%. SET closed on Monday, March 4, 2019, at 1,635.30 points, plunged 6.14 points or 0.37% with ฿45 billion in value.