The Asian markets closed mostly in red on Thursday, after more dour economic news in China and the United States piled pressure on riskier assets. Stock markets at Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore were closed on account of holiday. China’s central bank raised the ceiling on cross-border yuan fund flows for multinationals via two-way cross-border yuan cash pooling and cut the threshold to conduct the business. The cap on the net inflow was raised to 50 percent of the total shareholders’ equity in the cash pool. The initial ceiling for inflow was 10 percent and there was no limit on outflow. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will announce a plan to raise gross domestic product by around 22 percent to 600 trillion Japanese yen ($5 trillion) as he refocuses on the economy after the passage of controversial security bills that eroded his popularity. Abe wants to turn attention back to the faltering economy after last week’s enactment of unpopular bills that could let troops fight overseas for the first time since 1945, a milestone in his push to loosen the limits of the pacifist constitution. Japan’s All Industries Activity Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, from 0.5% in the preceding month whose figure was revised up from 0.3%.
Asian Indices Last Trade Change in Points Change in % Shanghai Composite 3,142.69 26.80 0.86 Hang Seng 21,095.98 -206.93 -0.97 Jakarta Composite - - - KLSE Composite - - - Nikkei 225 17,571.83 -498.38 -2.76 Straits Times - - - KOSPI Composite 1,947.10 2.46 0.13 Taiwan Weighted 8,123.10 -70.32 -0.86