Asian equity indices ended the session mostly in the red on Friday as investors remained on sidelines ahead of monthly U.S. jobs report scheduled to be released later in the day. Meanwhile, Chinese Shanghai ended lower by over half a percent despite IMF saying that country’s policy makers still have tools to keep economic growth at a medium to high level. Moreover, traders pulled money out of the market, awaiting direction from major economic data like trade, inflation, urban investment, industrial output and retail sales in the coming week. However, losses in the region remained capped after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its decision to cut its benchmark interest rate by 10 basis points to 0.15 percent and also lowered its deposit rate to negative 0.1 percent.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2029.96 | -10.92 | -0.54 |
Hang Seng | 22951.00 | -158.66 | -0.69 |
Jakarta Composite | 4937.18 | 1.61 | 0.03 |
KLSE Composite | 1862.70 | -6.30 | -0.34 |
Nikkei 225 | 15077.24 | -2.13 | -0.01 |
Straits Times | 3299.43 | 19.79 | 0.60 |
KOSPI Composite | -- | -- | -- |
Taiwan Weighted | 9134.46 | -6.26 | -0.07 |