Asian equity indices ended mostly in red on Wednesday, with the regional index extending yesterday’s losses, amid escalating tensions in Ukraine. Indonesia’s economic expansion continued to slow in the second quarter, dragged by falling growth in investment. Gross domestic product rose 5.12% in the April-June period from the same period last year, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported. The BPS revised first-quarter growth to 5.22%. Investment growth slowed to 4.5% in the first quarter, year on year, compared to 5.1% in the first quarter. Hong Kong’s home sales, which hit a two-year high in July, lack the catalyst to rebound further as government policies to contain prices deter speculators. Monthly sales volume may be capped at around 7,000 to 8,000 in the third quarter as existing homeowners are reluctant to sell and investors are discouraged by additional taxes. Japan’s index of leading economic indicators rose to a seasonally adjusted 105.5, from 104.8 in the preceding month whose figure was revised down from 105.7. Malaysian Trade Balance fell to 3.97B, from 5.70B in the preceding month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2217.47 | -2.48 | -0.11 |
Hang Seng | 24584.13 | -64.13 | -0.26 |
Jakarta Composite | 5058.23 | -50.86 | -1.00 |
KLSE Composite | 1869.92 | -6.77 | -0.36 |
Nikkei 225 | 15159.79 | -160.52 | -1.05 |
Straits Times | 3320.23 | -7.44 | -0.22 |
KOSPI Composite | 2060.73 | -5.53 | -0.27 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9143.97 | 2.53 | 0.03 |