The Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday, as investors continued to weigh the outlook for global monetary policies. Japan’s stock exchange was closed on account of ‘Labour Thanksgiving Day’ holiday. Japan’s government plans to raise the minimum wage and introduce other steps to revitalize the economy, but the draft of stimulus measures appeared to break no new ground on reforms that needed to end decades of stagnation. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government will also offer some financial support to people living off their pensions to bolster consumer spending. Raising wages is an urgent task for policymakers as Tokyo is keen to ramp up consumer spending, which is seen as crucial to boosting domestic demand and pulling the economy out of 15 years of deflation. Indonesia President Joko Widodo’s administration has dropped plans to introduce a seventh stimulus package aimed at propping the economy and instead will review previous policy changes. The package’s focus was to be on village funds as the government aims to increase the purchasing power of consumers in rural areas and to accelerate infrastructure development in small villages. South Korea’s average disposable household income grew a slim 0.2 percent in real terms in the third quarter over a year earlier, the slowest in nearly two years.
Asian Indices Last Trade Change in Points Change in % Shanghai Composite 3,610.31 -20.19 -0.56 Hang Seng 22,665.90 -88.82 -0.39 Jakarta Composite 4,541.07 -20.27 -0.44 KLSE Composite 1,670.90 9.01 0.54 Nikkei 225 - - - Straits Times 2,903.49 -14.42 -0.49 KOSPI Composite 2,003.70 13.84 0.70 Taiwan Weighted 8,485.73 20.28 0.24