The Asian markets barring KLSE Composite and KOSPI Composite closed in red on Thursday. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stated that change in the world’s second-largest economy is burdened with difficulties and uncertainty, but sought to reassure an international audience that the country does not threaten the global economy. Chinese leaders are overseeing a transition in the country’s growth model from the emphasis on exports and investment that saw it boom to a more sophisticated one in which consumer spending plays the dominant role. China’s manufacturers slashed prices at the fastest rate in six years in August as commodity prices fell and demand cooled, signaling stubborn deflation risks in the economy and adding to expectations for further stimulus measures. The producer price index (PPI) fell 5.9 percent in August from the same period last year, its 42nd consecutive month of decline and the biggest drop since the depths of the global financial crisis in late 2009. The market had expected a decline of 5.5 percent after a drop of 5.4 percent in July. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2 percent from a year earlier to a one-year high, but the gain was due largely to soaring food prices, not an improvement in economic activity. Japan’s Corporate Goods Price Index fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of -3.6%, from -3.0% in the preceding month.
Asian Indices Last Trade Change in Points Change in % Shanghai Composite 3,197.89 -45.20 -1.39 Hang Seng 21,562.50 -568.81 -2.57 Jakarta Composite 4,343.26 -4.01 -0.09 KLSE Composite 1,614.02 10.66 0.66 Nikkei 225 18,299.62 -470.89 -2.51 Straits Times 2,888.03 -40.15 -1.37 KOSPI Composite 1,962.11 27.91 1.44 Taiwan Weighted 8,268.68 -18.24 -0.22