By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly down on Monday morning, as energy prices continue to soar and add to inflationary pressure concerns.

China’s was down 0.66% by 10:31 PM ET (2:31 AM GMT) and the fell 1.10%. said that the GDP grew a smaller-than-expected 0.2% and 4.9% in the third quarter of 2021.

The year-on year growth was 3.1% and September 4.4% respectively. In September, the number of people living in these areas was 4.9%.

Hong Kong’s fell 0.85%.

Japan’s was down 0.30% and South Korea’s inched down 0.10%.

The Australian dollar was at 0.28%.

With the Chinese data closely watched to gauge the severity of a global energy crunch in the country, People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang Yi said on Sunday that China’s economy was “doing well”, but it faces challenges such as default risks for certain firms due to “mismanagement”.

However, the risks posed to the Chinese economy and financial system from China Evergrande Group’s debt woes can be contained, he added.

New Zealand’s consumer price index increased by an unexpected 4.9% and 2.2% respectively in the third quarter.

Investor sentiment is still skewed by concerns over inflation, a global energy crunch that continues and an uneven recovery of COVID-19. As central banks get ready to start asset tapering, this is a worrying sign.

“Sentiment really got quite bearish. Markets are feeling reasonably emboldened by the fact that we are probably going to see some reasonably robust results from U.S. corporates this quarter.” IG Group market analyst Kyle Rodda told Bloomberg.

“But the longer-term issue remains what is happening with the global supply shock brought upon by COVID-19, the inflation pressure that’s coming about from that, and the very fine line that the U.S. Federal Reserve is walking to try and tamp down these inflation risks, while at the same time not stepping on the recovery or undermining financial market strength.”

Jerome Powell, Fed chairman will participate in Friday’s policy panel discussion. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said the central bank will “have to act” to curb inflationary pressure and warned that higher energy costs will mean price pressures will continue.