The Asian markets concluded Wednesday’s trade mostly in green with Japan’s Nikkei jumping as bargain buying and a weaker yen lifted the market, following a rise on Wall Street bolstered by strong US corporate earnings. Bank Indonesia deputy governor Halim Alamsyah stated that Indonesia will have a chance to ease monetary policy next year as inflation slows, after maintaining a tight stance in 2014. Inflationary pressures are easing after interest rates were raised last year. He added that consumer-price gains will probably slow to about 5% by the end of this year and less than 4.5% in 2015. Japan’s industrial production fell to a seasonally adjusted -2.3%.
China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in six quarters in the first quarter of 2014 with signs of waning momentum already prompting limited government action to steady the world’s second-largest economy. China’s annual economic growth slowed between January and March 2014 to 7.4% from 7.7% in the previous three months while Chinese Industrial Production rose to 8.8%, from 8.6% in the preceding month. Chinese Retail Sales rose to an annual rate of 12.2%, from 11.8% in the preceding month while Chinese Fixed Asset Investment fell to a seasonally adjusted 17.6%, from 17.9% in the preceding month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2105.12 | 3.52 | 0.17 |
Hang Seng | 22696.01 | 24.75 | 0.11 |
Jakarta Composite | 4873.01 | 2.80 | 0.06 |
KLSE Composite | 1845.37 | -8.51 | -0.46 |
Nikkei 225 | 14417.68 | 420.87 | 3.01 |
Straits Times | 3253.20 | 6.88 | 0.21 |
KOSPI Composite | 1992.21 | -0.06 | - |
Taiwan Weighted | 8923.82 | 7.11 | 0.08 |