The Asian markets concluded Monday’s trade mostly in green, with the regional benchmarks heading for the biggest quarterly rally since September. Shanghai Composite Index rose after the government cut reserve-requirement ratios for some banks and introduced mini-stimulus including infrastructure spending to prevent a property slowdown from endangering Premier Li Keqiang’s target of 7.5% growth this year. Annual growth in China’s industrial profits slowed to 8.9% in May to 512.7 billion yuan ($82.6 billion) from a year earlier, slowing from a 9.6% rise in April, the weakest pace this year, signaling challenges facing Chinese firms despite signs of stabilization in the economy. Taiwan’s dollar had the biggest quarterly advance in more than two years and stocks rallied as foreign investors boosted equity holdings amid optimism the island’s economic expansion is gathering pace. Thailand Trade Balance rose to a seasonally adjusted 1.63B, from 0.56B in the preceding month.
Japan’s unemployment rate hit a 16-year low in May, suggesting the economy will rebound in the third quarter from a sales tax hike and consequent slump in consumer spending. The jobless rate in the world’s third-largest economy fell to 3.5%, the lowest since 1997 and a level the Bank of Japan says is near full employment. At the same time, the availability of jobs rose to its highest level since 1992, good news for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he tries to cement a recovery after two decades of stagnation. Japan’s industrial production rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.5%, from -2.8% in the preceding month. Japanese Housing Starts fell to a seasonally adjusted -15.0%, from -3.3% in the preceding quarter.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2048.33 | 11.82 | 0.58 |
Hang Seng | 23190.72 | -30.80 | -0.13 |
Jakarta Composite | 4878.58 | 33.45 | 0.69 |
KLSE Composite | 1882.71 | 1.78 | 0.09 |
Nikkei 225 | 15162.10 | 67.10 | 0.44 |
Straits Times | 3255.67 | -15.38 | -0.47 |
KOSPI Composite | 2002.21 | 13.70 | 0.69 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9393.07 | 86.24 | 0.93 |