The Asian equity benchmarks ended mostly in green on Tuesday, with Chinese stocks rising for the first time in four days after the nation’s exports climbed more than forecast. China’s exports and imports exceeded market expectations in December, a welcome sign that Beijing has found support for its cooling manufacturing sector as a stronger US economy offsets weakness in Europe and Japan. Policymakers are trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy through a soft patch as it also confronts weak consumption and a slowdown in the property market. Exports rose 9.7 percent from a year earlier in dollar-denominated terms, while imports dropped for a second month in a row by 2.4 percent. Chinese Trade Balance fell to 49.10B, from 54.47B in the preceding month. Japan’s Current Account rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.91T, from 0.95T in the preceding month while Japan’s Economy Watchers Current Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 45.2, from 41.5 in the preceding month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,235.30 | 5.99 | 0.19 |
Hang Seng | 24,215.97 | 189.51 | 0.79 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,214.36 | 26.43 | 0.51 |
KLSE Composite | 1,748.90 | 13.82 | 0.80 |
Nikkei 225 | 17,087.71 | -110.02 | -0.64 |
Straits Times | 3,341.07 | -3.82 | -0.11 |
KOSPI Composite | 1,917.14 | -3.81 | -0.20 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,231.80 | 53.50 | 0.58 |