The Asian markets concluded Wednesday’s trade mostly in green, following a record close for the Dow and S&P 500 on Wall Street. Southeast Asian currencies rallied as US economic data that trailed estimates weakened the greenback, and political developments in Indonesia spurred the rupiah to its biggest gain since March. A set of unexpectedly weak activity data for April pointed toward a stalling economic recovery in China, reviving expectations that the government will continue policies aimed at nurturing growth. New home sales in China declined at a faster rate in the first four months of this year, by both value and volume, as the lack of enthusiasm among homebuyers continued. The value of new homes sold across the country dropped 9.9% from the same period a year earlier to 1.53 trillion yuan ($246 billion) during the January-April period. In the first quarter, the value fell 7.7% year on year. Japan’s Corporate Goods Price Index rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.1%, from 1.7% in the preceding month. South Korean Unemployment Rate rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.7%, from 3.5% in the preceding month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2047.91 | -2.82 | -0.14 |
Hang Seng | 22582.77 | 230.39 | 1.03 |
Jakarta Composite | 4991.64 | 70.24 | 1.43 |
KLSE Composite | 1879.20 | 13.12 | 0.70 |
Nikkei 225 | 14405.76 | -19.68 | -0.14 |
Straits Times | 3259.09 | 36.66 | 1.14 |
KOSPI Composite | 2010.83 | 27.90 | 1.41 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8875.16 | 57.22 | 0.65 |