2014.03.1006:25:49UTC+00Asian shares plunge from six-week peak

Asian shares dropped, with the regional benchmark index rebounding from a six-week peak, following reports showed a surprisingly limp in Chinese exports and slower growth in Japan than economists had postulated.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., Australia’s top 3 producer of iron ore, plunge 8.9% following futures on the metal used to create steel dipped into a bear market. BHP Billiton Ltd., a mining company that obtains around 29% of sales from China, missed 3.4% in Sydney. Malaysian Air sank 12% in Kuala Lumpur, set for a record low, following one of its planes bound for Beijing was missing two days ago with 239 people on board.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dived 0.6% to 138.36 as of 10:07 a.m. in Tokyo. The index reported its fourth weekly advance last week, the longest run since September. Reports displayed Chinese exports slipped the most since 2009 last month, while Japan’s economy enlarged less than anticipated in the 4th quarter. Pro-Russian forces advanced in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, dismissing Western calls to stop a military takeover before the region’s separatist referendum.

Japan GDP

Japan’s Topix index slid 0.6%. The country's gross domestic product grew 0.7% from the last quarter, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo, less than a primary estimate of 1%. The present account deficit expanded to 1.59 trillion yen (or $15.4 billion), the bigegst in data back to 1985, the finance ministry noted.

South Korea’s Kospi index plummeted 0.7% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index (AS51) fell 0.9%. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index went down 0.2% from a record high. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index decreased 0.8%, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index was slightly changed. China and Hong Kong markets have yet to open.

China’s overseas shipments dwindled 18.1% in February from a year earlier, customs data showed March 8. Producer prices tumbled 2%, the most since July, based on a statistics bureau report yesterday, prolonging the longest decrement since 1999.