Summary Oil prices were also in retreat after hitting their highest levels of 2016
HONG KONG (AFP) - Asian markets tumbled Tuesday as investors took their cash off the table after enjoying their best rally so far this year, while China released data showing another hefty slump in exports.
Profit-takers made the most of the latest surge in prices that has come on the back of upbeat US data and hopes that China will ramp up its efforts to kickstart the world s number two economy.
Oil prices were also in retreat after hitting their highest levels of 2016.
Figures from Beijing showed exports dived more than 25.4 percent year on year in February, while imports were 13.8 percent down. A Bloomberg survey forecast exports to fall 14.5 percent and imports to drop 12.0 percent.
The numbers are the latest to highlight weakness in the economy, although officials pointed out that they were skewed by the Chinese New Year holiday that saw factories shut down for a week.
The timing of Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar, and shifts every year.
However, Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economic research at HSBC Holdings in Hong Kong, said: "Exports got pummelled again in February, highlighting the downturn in global demand.
"It s easy to blame Chinese New Year distortions, but there is a much deeper malaise that is becoming apparent in the numbers."
Shanghai stocks were down 2.6 percent after the release and Hong Kong lost one percent.
In Japan the government released figures showing the world s number three economy contracted slightly less than first thought in the final three months of 2015.
However, the minor improvement was scant consolation for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose big-spending, loose monetary policy blitz to reinvigorate the economy has been called into question by a series of disappointing readings.
Junichi Makino, chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, said: "We cannot take a positive view (on the revised data)... There is no change to our outlook that the economy is stagnant."
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The news will put fresh focus on the Bank of Japan when it meets next week, with expectations it will further loosen monetary policy.
Despite the prospect of fresh cash being pumped into the financial system the yen ticked higher against the dollar. The greenback bought 112.77 yen in early trade, against 113.41 yen in New York. That hit exporters on the Nikkei index, which was down 1.6 percent by the break.
"We might be experiencing a bit of exuberance," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets Asia Pacific in Sydney, told Bloomberg News.
"Japanese markets have gone up significantly, making it vulnerable for a correction. The GDP has acted as a trigger for the selloff in Tokyo."
Other regional markets were also in negative territory, with Sydney off 0.5 percent and Seoul down one percent.
Oil prices dipped slightly following healthy gains that saw Brent break the $40 barrier and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate approach $38. In early trade Brent was down 0.5 percent and WTI off 0.8 percent.
The commodities, which just months ago were trading below $30, have enjoyed strong buying interest in recent weeks on hopes that key producers will freeze output.
Adding to the upbeat outlook for prices this week was another cut in the US rig count to more than five-year lows, healthy US economic data and a promise from China s leadership to kickstart its giant economy.
Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela last month agreed to freeze output at January levels if other producers followed suit, although details of an expected producers meeting this month are still scant.
