* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4. * MSCI ex-Japan rise, Japan's Nikkei stumbles. * Chinese shares on firm footing on stimulus hopes. * Japan's GDP shrinks at fastest pace in 6 years. * Singapore downgrades growth outlook due to coronavirus. By Swati Pandey.
* Says to ease without hesitation if virus outbreak hits economy. * Calls coronavirus outbreak biggest economic uncertainty. * Sees some economic stabilisation in 2020. By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Kaori Kaneko.
* China's natural gas consumption in January saw its first year-on-year contraction in at least two years, data compiled by Chongqing Petroleum and Gas Exchange, a government-backed energy trading platform, showed on Monday. * Last month, the country consumed 31.6 billion cubic metres, down 1% from a year earlier.
Copper prices rose on Monday, with the
London contract hitting a three-week high, as China lowered
interest rates on its medium-term loans to support an economy
hurt by the coronavirus outbreak.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank would consider additional easing steps without hesitation if the coronavirus outbreak significantly threatened Japan's economy and price trends, the Sankei newspaper reported on Monday. "We would need to consider monetary policy steps if significantly affects Japan's economy," Kuroda was quoted as saying in an interview with the daily.
* Euro near 33-month low as growth stagnates in euro zone. * Yen shows limited response to poor Japan GDP. * Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E. By Hideyuki Sano.
Japan's economy shrank at the fastest pace in almost six years in the December quarter as last year's sales tax hike hit consumer and business spending, highlighting a fragile outlook made worse by growing coronavirus risks.
China has approved the import of all poultry and poultry products from the United States, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on its website on Monday. Beijing had banned all trade in poultry products from the United States since 2015 due to outbreaks of avian influenza there.
Japanese shares slid to a 1-1/2-week low on Monday, hurt by a weaker-than-expected gross domestic product reading for the December quarter, while worries about the economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic continued to weigh on the market.
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