Asian stocks weaken as China's factory-gate prices fall sharply

Most Asian stocks swung lower on Tuesday, weighed by the Chinese markets, after mainland factory-gate prices shrank at their fastest pace in three years. At the same time, reports of German stimulus plans pushed global bond prices down.

China’s producer price index fell 0.8 per cent in August year-on-year, official data showed on Tuesday — its sharpest decline since August 2016 as flagging demand at home and abroad forced businesses to slash prices.

The data pushed blue chip shares in China down 0.41 per cent, which, in turn, drove an index of Asian stocks outside of Japan 0.23 per cent lower, having