The Asian markets ended mixed on Tuesday, while, Chinese markets tumbled as investor excitement over a weekend interest rate cut waned, with a flood of new initial public offerings (IPO) fanning concerns about tighter liquidity. The era of ultra-easy money is drawing to an end for Singapore mortgage holders, with domestic interest rates rising at their fastest pace in a decade in a country that already ranks among the world’s most expensive places to live. South Korea’s annual inflation in February slowest to a 16-year low as the recent collapse in global oil pressured consumer prices, backing expectations for another rate cut to ward off deflation in Asia’s fourth-largest economy. The consumer price index rose 0.5% in February year-on-year, cooling from 0.8% in January. Japan’s Average Cash Earnings remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 1.3%, compared to the preceding quarter whose figure was revised down from 1.6% while Japan’s Monetary Base fell to 36.7%, from 37.4% in the preceding month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,263.05 | -73.23 | -2.20 |
Hang Seng | 24,702.78 | -184.66 | -0.74 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,474.62 | -3.21 | -0.06 |
KLSE Composite | 1,821.25 | 4.12 | 0.23 |
Nikkei 225 | 18,815.16 | -11.72 | -0.06 |
Straits Times | 3,422.11 | 18.22 | 0.54 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,001.38 | 4.57 | 0.23 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9605.77 | 4.41 | 0.05 |