World shares mixed after China reports slowing growth

World shares were mixed on Monday after China reported that its economy expanded at an 8.1% annual pace in 2021, though growth slowed to half that level in the last quarter.

Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Shanghai advanced while Hong Kong and Seoul declined.

The weakness in China's economy toward the end of 2021 is prompting suggestions Beijing should intervene to prop up growth with interest rate cuts or by injecting money into the economy through public works spending.

Shortly before the growth data were released, the Chinese central bank announced a rate cut on medium-lending to commercial banks to the lowest level since 2020.

Economic momentum remains weak amid repeated virus outbreaks and a struggling property sector," Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a commentary. He expects China's policymakers to keep limits on lending relatively tight and control credit growth.

The upshot is that policy easing is likely to soften the economic downturn rather than drive a rebound," he said.

Slowing activity in China, the region's biggest economy, can chill growth throughout the region. Lockdowns and other precautions imposed to combat outbreaks of coronavirus can also worsen shortages of key parts and components, adding to difficulties with shipping and supply chains.

The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.6% to 3,541.67, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.7% to 24,218.43.

South Korea's Kospi sank 1.1% to 2,890.10 after North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea early Monday in its fourth weapons launch this month, South Korea's military said, with the apparent goal of demonstrating its military might amid paused diplomacy with the US and pandemic border closures.

Germany's DAX gained 0.2% to 15,910.54 and the CAC 40 in Paris also was up 0.2%, at 7,156.53. Britain's FTSE 100 jumped 0.7% to 7,592.79. The future for the S&P 500 picked up 0.2% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher.

In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 advanced 0.7% to 28,333.52 as the government reported machinery orders rose in November as private investment and manufacturing activity improved during a lull in coronavirus outbreaks. Shipbuilders orders surged 170%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.3% to 7,417.30.

On Friday, the S&P 500 eked out a 0.1% gain, closing at 4,662.85. The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 0.6% to 14,893.75. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% to 35,911.81.

Smaller company stocks also bounced back from an early slide. The Russell 2000 index rose 0.1%, to 2,162.46.

A rally in technology stocks, plus gains in energy and other sectors, helped outweigh declines in banks and elsewhere in the market on a day when investors were mainly focused on a mix of company earnings reports and discouraging data on retail sales.

The mixed finish capped a week of choppy trading on Wall Street that deepened the market's January slump. The benchmark S&P 500, which soared 26.9% in 2021, is now about 2.8% below the all-time high it set on Jan 3.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury was steady at 1.79%.

The price of US crude oil rose 30 cents to $84.12 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, it rose 2.1%, helping to send energy stocks higher.

Brent crude added 6 cents to $86.12 per barrel.

The US dollar rose to 114.32 Japanese yen from 114.18 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1430 from $1.1417.