The Asian equity benchmarks ended mostly in green on Monday, while Chinese shares plunged the most since 2008 as regulators cracked down on margin lending. Beijing’s efforts to put China’s economy on a more sustainable growth path are focusing on shifting from investment-intensive manufacturing jobs to the services sector, but clumsy attempts to force the transition could do more harm than good. China’s economic growth rate is likely to cool further this year, restrained by sluggish lending, a housing slump and weak global demand. The world’s second-largest economy is predicted to grow 7% in 2015, and slow further to 6.8% next year. The data is likely to show China’s economy expanded 7.2% in the final quarter of 2014, the weakest in 24 years. Japan’s industrial production fell to a seasonally adjusted -0.5%. Hong Kong Unemployment Rate remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 3.3%, compared to the preceding month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,116.35 | -260.14 | -7.70 |
Hang Seng | 23,738.49 | -365.03 | -1.51 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,152.09 | 3.72 | 0.07 |
KLSE Composite | 1,753.31 | 9.74 | 0.56 |
Nikkei 225 | 17,014.29 | 150.13 | 0.89 |
Straits Times | 3,307.70 | 7.02 | 0.21 |
KOSPI Composite | 1,902.62 | 14.49 | 0.77 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,174.06 | 35.77 | 0.39 |