Asian equities trade on a sluggish note amid mixed economic reports

22 Mar 2012 Evaluate

After getting off to a positive start, stock markets in Asia have mostly flattened out while some have even slipped below the neutral line as investors grew pessimistic about Chinese economic growth outlook. The markets remained in green terrain since early trades as investors shrugged the overnight negative close on Wall Street and focused on the encouraging economic report from world’s third largest economy which showed Japan registered an unexpected trade surplus of 32.9 billion yen in February, the first surplus in five months, against a forecast for a 120 billion yen deficit, sending the yen against the dollar to an intraday low. However, reports of fifth consecutive decline in Chinese manufacturing activity in March dampened investors’ morale and weighed on markets as overall rate of contraction deepened and new orders sank to a four-month low.

The benchmark in China remained the top laggard in the space with around half a percent cut in the session while the equity index in Taiwan climbed higher over half a percent and led the gainers in Asian region. Japan's Nikkei too gained around half a percent as investors picked up companies that had lagged this year's rally.

Hang Seng added 4.85 points or 0.02% to 20,861.48, Jakarta Composite gained 1.29 points or 0.03% to 4,037.52, KLSE Composite rose 2.94 points or 0.19% to 1,585.47, Nikkei 225 moved up 40.22 points or 0.40% to 10,126.71 and Taiwan Weighted climbed 61.53 points or 0.77% to 8,043.47.

On the flipside, Shanghai Composite slipped 10.48 points or 0.44% to 2,367.71, Straits Times shed 8.75 points or 0.29% to 2,996.88 and Seoul Composite eased 4.67 points or 0.23% to 2,022.56.

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