The Asian markets closed mostly in green on Wednesday, with Shanghai Composite halting a two-day slump, as investors returned to the market amid speculation of state-led buying. The Bank of Japan stated that Japanese factory output will remain flat in the current quarter and an expected pick-up in October-December is clouded with uncertainty as shipments to Asia take a hit from China’s slowdown. The cautious assessment underlines a waning conviction among central bank policymakers that Japan’s economy will make a solid rebound in July-September after shrinking in the second quarter. China’s non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) rose 18.2% year-on-year to 473.4 billion yuan ($74.34 billion) in the first eight months of this year from the same period a year earlier. ODI outflows in August grew 7% from a year earlier to $13.5 billion. The commerce ministry last week stated that the country attracted 525.3 billion yuan or $85.3 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first eight months of 2015, up 9.2% from a year earlier. FDI inflows in August rose 22% from a year earlier to 54.2 billion yuan or $8.71 billion. Singaporean Unemployment Rate remained unchanged at 2.0% compared with the preceding quarter. KLSE Composite was closed on account of ‘Malaysia Day’ holiday.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,152.26 | 147.09 | 4.89 |
Hang Seng | 21,966.66 | 511.43 | 2.38 |
Jakarta Composite | 4,332.51 | -14.65 | -0.34 |
KLSE Composite | - | - | - |
Nikkei 225 | 18,171.60 | 145.12 | 0.81 |
Straits Times | 2,868.74 | 26.80 | 0.94 |
KOSPI Composite | 1,975.45 | 37.89 | 1.96 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8,333.29 | 73.30 | 0.89 |