Asian markets ended mostly in red on Monday, as Japan's economy unexpectedly fell into recession and Hong Kong shares slid as a trading link with Shanghai started. Japan’s economy unexpectedly slipped into recession in the third quarter, setting the stage for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to delay an unpopular sales tax hike and call a snap election two years before he had to go to the polls. Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by an annualized 1.6 percent in July-September, after plunging 7.3 percent in the second quarter following a rise in the national sales tax, which clobbered consumer spending. The recession comes nearly two years after Abe returned to power promising to revive the economy with his ‘Abenomics’ mix of massive monetary stimulus, spending and reforms, and is unwelcome news for an already shaky global economy. The world’s third-largest economy had been forecast to rebound by 2.1 percent, but consumption and exports remained weak, saddling companies with huge inventories to work off. Hong Kong Unemployment Rate remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 3.3%, compared to the preceding month. Thai GDP rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.6%, from 0.4% in the preceding month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2474.01 | -4.82 | -0.19 |
Hang Seng | 23797.08 | -290.30 | -1.21 |
Jakarta Composite | 5053.94 | 4.46 | 0.09 |
KLSE Composite | 1806.48 | -7.31 | -0.40 |
Nikkei 225 | 16973.80 | -517.03 | -2.96 |
Straits Times | 3288.67 | -27.00 | -0.81 |
KOSPI Composite | 1943.63 | -1.51 | -0.08 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8884.39 | -98.49 | -1.10 |