Asia-Pacific stocks mixed; official data shows China's industrial profit growth slowing in May

SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Monday morning trade. Meanwhile, official data showed that China's industrial profits for May slowed.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.15% in early trade while the Topix index gained 0.16%. South Korea's Kospi also dipped 0.12%.

Australia stocks were little changed, as the S&P/ASX 200 traded around the flatline.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded fractionally lower.

Data released Sunday by China's National Bureau of Statistics showed profits at China's industrial firms rose 36.4% in May as compared with a year earlier. That was a slowdown from the 57% year-on-year growth posted in April.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.783 after a decline earlier this month from above 92.1.

The Japanese yen traded at 110.83 per dollar after last week's weakening from below 110.4 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7588 after rising last week from below $0.756.

Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.24% to $76.36 per barrel. U.S. crude futures gained 0.22% to $74.21 per barrel.

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