Asian markets reel under pressure; Italian auction eyed

29 Dec 2011 Evaluate

Asian markets extending their downfall for third consecutive day on Thursday, taking cues from weak US and European shares, as players cut positions heading into the year-end with an Italian debt auction later in the day keeping markets nervous. Investors are holding onto their cash and most people are not willing to invest in risk assets given the current market sentiment. Italy’s sale of up to 8.5 billion euros ($11 billion) later in the day is seen as the first test of banks’ willingness to buy longer-term sovereign debt with the nearly 500 billion euros they borrowed last week from the European Central Bank.

Hang Seng was down 168.77 points or 0.91% to 18,349.90, Jakarta Composite was down 16.48 points or 0.44% to 3,752.74, Nikkei 225 was down 50.68 points or 0.60% to 8,372.94, Seoul Composite was down 0.15 points or 0.01% to 1,824.97 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 2.32 points or 0.03% to 7,054.35.

On the flip side, Straits Times was up 3.22 points or 0.12% to 2,669.47 and Shanghai Composite was up by 7.22 points or 0.33% to 2,177.23.

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