Asian markets ended mostly in red on Tuesday, with the regional benchmark index heading for a six-month low, as global equities extended losses after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index capped its biggest three-day loss since 2011. Singapore’s economy expanded more than estimated in the third quarter, adding to evidence that increasing global demand is fueling the island’s manufacturing pickup. Gross domestic product rose an annualized 1.2 percent in the three months through September from the previous quarter, when it contracted a revised 0.1 percent. Singaporean GDP remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 2.4% versus forecast level of 2.8%. Singapore’s manufacturing output has benefited from a recovery in overseas demand, even as the government implements a 10-year plan to reduce reliance on cheap foreign workers and boost productivity which has caused a labor shortage and pushed up wage costs.
South Korea’s central bank is expected to cut its benchmark interest rate tomorrow to the record-low 2 percent used to fight an economic slump at the height of the global financial crisis. The seven-day repurchase rate will be lowered by 25 basis points. The rate-cut speculation mounted after Finance Minister Choi Kyung Hwan last month stated that there was sufficient policy room to boost an economy struggling from weak domestic demand, views he echoed before investors in New York on October 9. Japan’s M2 Money Stock remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 3.0%.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2359.48 | -6.53 | -0.28 |
Hang Seng | 23,047.97 | -95.41 | -0.41 |
Jakarta Composite | 4922.58 | 9.53 | 0.19 |
KLSE Composite | 1796.38 | -0.82 | -0.05 |
Nikkei 225 | 14,936.51 | -364.04 | -2.38 |
Straits Times | 3194.40 | -7.75 | -0.24 |
KOSPI Composite | 1929.25 | 2.04 | 0.11 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8768.39 | 57.00 | 0.65 |