The Asian equity benchmarks ended mostly in red on Tuesday, with Japanese shares slipping on their final trading day of the year. Japan’s ruling coalition has approved a tax reform plan that will cut corporate taxes from April and pledges further reductions in coming years in a bid by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to boost profitability and bolster economic growth. The plan approved would cut the overall effective corporate tax rate by 2.51% points to 32.1% from April and then to 31.3% the following year. South Korea’s current account surplus rose to a monthly record in November as slumping oil prices slashed the value of imports. The preliminary figure of $11.4 billion shattered the previous monthly record of $11.1 billion set in October 2013. The current account - the broadest measure of foreign trade in goods and services - has been in the black for two years and nine months - the longest streak of surplus since 1989. South Korean Industrial Production fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of -3.4%, from -3.2% in the preceding month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,165.81 | -2.20 | -0.07 |
Hang Seng | 23,501.10 | -272.08 | -1.14 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,226.95 | 48.57 | 0.94 |
KLSE Composite | 1,766.83 | -1.58 | -0.09 |
Nikkei 225 | 17,450.77 | -279.07 | -1.57 |
Straits Times | 3,366.11 | -1.58 | -0.05 |
KOSPI Composite | 1,915.59 | -12.27 | -0.64 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,268.43 | -17.85 | -0.19 |