Most Asian equities move up; China underperforms

19 Mar 2012 Evaluate

Share markets across Asia largely exhibiting positive trends in Monday’s trading session as all the bourses barring the ones in China and Taiwan, traded above their previous closing levels. Over the weekend cues from Wall Street remained subdued on the back of US consumer prices data which showed prices increased the most in 10 months in February due to spike up in gasoline prices, however the underlying inflation pressures did not show notable signs of building up. Meanwhile, sentiments got support after IMF opined that the global economy has come out of the brink of danger and signs of stabilization are emerging from the European region and the US, but high debt levels in developed markets and rising oil prices are key risks ahead.

Seoul shares were leading the Asian pack with around a quarter percent gains as sentiments got support from the better than expected sales at major South Korean department stores rose 2.9% last month, after a 4.1% drop in January. However, the benchmarks in China underperformed most Asian equity indices as it traded with around half a percent cut as investors booked profits after official reports showed the nation’s home prices fell in 27 of 70 cities last month from a year earlier, posting the worst performance in a year.

Hang Seng gained 11.79 points or 0.06% to 21,329.64, Jakarta Composite advanced 9.68 points or 0.24% to 4,038.22, KLSE Composite rose 1.46 points or 0.09% to 1,572.86, Nikkei 225 added 18.39 points or 0.18% to 10,148.22, Straits Times moved up 9.41 points or 0.31% to 3,020.09 and Seoul Composite amassed 5.32 points or 0.26% to 2,039.76.

On the flipside, Shanghai Composite declined 12.26 points or 0.51% to 2,392.48 and Taiwan Weighted eased 40.82 points or 0.51% to 8,014.12.

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