Asian markets ended mixed on Monday, with Hong Kong shares falling amid the biggest police crackdown on protesters since the city returned to Chinese rule. China’s industrial profits fell 0.6% in August from a year earlier, reversing from July’s 13.5% annual rise, the latest in a series of weak data from the world’s second-largest economy. Industrial companies made profits of 3.83 trillion yuan between January and August, 10% higher than the same period last year. The monthly decline adds to recent weak figures that have fueled fears that China is at risk of a sharp slowdown if it does not make fresh stimulus measures. China’s factory output grew at its weakest pace in nearly six years in August while growth in other key sectors such as retail sales and imports also cooled.
Indonesia rupiah fell to a seven-month low after the passage of a law scrapping direct elections for local officials spurred outflows from country’s stock market. Fitch Ratings stated that Indonesian banks are well positioned to face challenging environments, because of their well-capitalized position and the strengthened supervisory oversight of the country’s financial regulator.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2357.71 | 9.99 | 0.43 |
Hang Seng | 23229.21 | -449.20 | -1.90 |
Jakarta Composite | 5142.01 | 9.45 | 0.18 |
KLSE Composite | 1846.34 | 5.84 | 0.32 |
Nikkei 225 | 16310.64 | 80.78 | 0.50 |
Straits Times | 3289.72 | -2.49 | -0.08 |
KOSPI Composite | 2026.60 | -5.04 | -0.25 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8960.76 | -29.06 | -0.32 |