Asia stocks slip as investors look ahead to China’s first-quarter GDP

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia slipped in Monday morning trade as investors await Chinese economic data, including the economic powerhouse’s first-quarter gross domestic product figures.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.24% in early trade as shares of Fast Retailing and SoftBank Group declined more than 1% each. The Topix index shed 0.88%.

South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.5%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.24% lower.

A slew of Chinese economic data, including the country’s first-quarter GDP and industrial production figures for March, are set to be released at 10:00 a.m. HK/SIN.

The data comes as mainland China has for weeks been battling its worst Covid wave in two years. In particular, the major city of Shanghai has been among the areas most affected.

Markets in Australia and Hong Kong are closed on Monday for a holiday.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 100.523 — continuing to hold above the 100.4 level after a recent bounce from below 100.