The Asian equity benchmarks ended in green on Friday, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi expanded stimulus. Chinese stocks in Hong Kong climbed to a three-year high as an unexpected gain in a manufacturing gauge signaled the world’s second-largest economy is stabilizing. The bad debt ratio of Chinese banks climbed to 1.6% as of the end of 2014, a level not seen since the global financial crisis and underscoring building financial pressures as China’s economy cools. China’s labour market was stable last year even as its economic growth plumbed a 24-year low, with the urban unemployment rate little changed at 4.1% at the end of December. An economic adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that Japan could see some concrete movement in its real economy in 2015, adding that inflation expectations have been rising under the Bank of Japan’s monetary stimulus. Taiwanese Industrial Production rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.33%, from 6.86% in the preceding month. South Korean GDP fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.7%, from 3.2% in the preceding month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,351.76 | 8.42 | 0.25 |
Hang Seng | 24,850.45 | 327.82 | 1.34 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,323.89 | 70.70 | 1.35 |
KLSE Composite | 1,803.08 | 21.33 | 1.20 |
Nikkei 225 | 17,511.75 | 182.73 | 1.05 |
Straits Times | 3,411.50 | 41.21 | 1.22 |
KOSPI Composite | 1,936.09 | 15.27 | 0.79 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,470.94 | 101.43 | 1.08 |