Asian stocks hit by poor US and China data

HONG KONG — Asian stock markets mostly slipped Monday after an anaemic US jobs report last week and data showing Chinese inflation was still high despite Beijing's monetary policy tightening.Sydney was hit by a sell-off amid concerns over a proposed carbon tax unveiled by the government on Sunday, while the euro was also under pressure due to the ongoing European debt crisis, with Italy now in focus.Tokyo closed 0.67 percent, or 68.20 points, lower at 10,069.53, Sydney dropped 1.56 percent, or 72.4 points, to 4,582.3 and Seoul fell 1.06 percent, or 23.19 points, to end at 2,157.16.Hong Kong fell 1.67 percent, or 379.20 points, to 22,347.23.But Shanghai gained 0.18 percent, or 4.92 points, to 2,802.69 thanks to a surge in airline shares following reports that the government will invest heavily in the sector.The US Labor Department said on Friday that the economy created just 18,000 jobs in June, dashing hopes that the economic recovery might be gathering speed.Market-watchers had been hoping for a strong rise after data Thursday showed strong growth in private sector jobs creation.Hopes for the global recovery were dealt another blow Saturday when China announced inflation surged to a three-year high of 6.4 percent in June despite five interest rate hikes by leaders struggling to rein in soaring food costs.The figure is up from May's 5.5 percent and well above the government target of four percent.China has hiked interest rates five times since October -- most recently on Wednesday."We expect a day of risk-off sentiment (Monday) as markets adjust to poor US data and high CPI inflation... out of China over the weekend," Credit Agricole said in a note to clients."The Chinese data is negative because it indicates that price pressures are continuing to spread throughout the economy despite policy tightening thus far and despite growth slowdown," it added, according to Dow Jones Newswires.However, shares rose after the Shanghai Securities News quoted the industry regulator as saying the government will offer su

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