Asian shares trade mixed after last week's Wall Street rallies

Worries are simmering about China's economy, as analysts say the data for August aren't strong enough to reflect ongoing dynamic growth, especially given the damage from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies.

“China’s economy continued to slide in August, with all key activity readings falling short of market forecasts once more,” Lynn Song of ING Economics said in a report.

“Given the slowdown of the past few months, we expect that there’s a strong case for additional short-term stimulus efforts,”

China's retail sales rose 3.4%, a 12-month low that was down from 5.7% in July and 6.8% in June. Retail sales rose 3.4%, the slowest pace since last November.

“The underlying flow is shifting. For years, Beijing leaned on exports as the carry trade that kept growth rolling even as property cracked. But with Trump’s tariffs slicing through supply chains, that leg of the trade is gone,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost nearly 0.2% to 8,851.70, while South Korea's Kospi gained 0.4% to 3,408.54. Stock trading was closed Monday for a national holiday in Japan.

Wall Street ended Friday with the S&P 500 edging down by less than 0.1% from the all-time high set Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 273 points, or 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.4%.

The recent rallies are coming because of expectations the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate for the first time this year at its meeting next week. That means that, if the interest rate cuts don't happen, the market could drop in disappointment.

All told, the S&P 500 slipped 3.18 points to 6,584.29. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 273.78 to 45,834.22, and the Nasdaq composite rose 98.03 to 22,141.10.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury recovered some of its drop from earlier in the week, rising Friday to 4.06% from 4.01% late Thursday.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 37 cents to $63.06 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 36 cents to $67.35 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched up to 147.67 Japanese yen from 147.65 yen. The euro stood unchanged at $1.1732.

Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama