The Asian equity benchmarks ended mostly in red on Monday, with Japanese stocks closing lower on the first trading day of the year after fluctuating though out the day. An economic rebound and loose money policy under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe briefly halted a long slide in Japan’s commercial property market, but the benefits of Abenomics appear increasingly limited to Tokyo, leaving a moribund hinterland. Japanese manufacturing activity showed sustained growth in December, suggesting domestic demand continues to recover after the economy fell into a surprise recession last year. The final Markit/JMMA Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was 52.0 in December, slightly less than a preliminary reading of 52.1 and unchanged from the final reading in November.
South Korea received a record high $19 billion in pledges of foreign direct investment during 2014, as interest from Europe and China surged. The total is 30.6 percent higher than in 2013, when there were pledges of about $14.6 billion. Pledged inflows from the European Union, the largest foreign investor in South Korea, grew 35 percent to $6.5 billion while those from China rose 147 percent to $1.2 billion. Thailand CPI fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.60%, from 1.26% in the preceding month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,350.52 | 115.84 | 3.58 |
Hang Seng | 23,721.32 | -136.50 | -0.57 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,220.00 | -22.77 | -0.43 |
KLSE Composite | 1,736.62 | -16.15 | -0.92 |
Nikkei 225 | 17,408.71 | -42.06 | -0.24 |
Straits Times | 3,328.28 | -42.31 | -1.26 |
KOSPI Composite | 1,915.75 | -10.69 | -0.55 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,274.11 | -33.15 | -0.36 |