Asian counters continue southbound journey for second day in a row

29 Mar 2012 Evaluate

Sentiments remained bearish for second straight session in the Asian region and most of the equity indices snapped the day’s trade in the red on Thursday as weak economic data from United States and Britain stoked worries about the global economy health. Earlier, the Asian counters made a choppy start followed a fall on Wall Street after figures from the US Commerce Department showed a slower-than-expected rise in new orders for manufactured durable goods, that came after an index of US consumer confidence on March 27, 2012 showed a slip, while home prices continued to fall in January. Moreover, Official data in Britain showed that the country's economy shrank a revised 0.3 percent in the final three months of 2011, worse than the 0.2 percent drop previously estimated.

Tokyo shares fell 0.67 percent as energy plays were hurt by talk among Western powers on releasing oil reserves to damp rising prices while, Seoul shares fell to a near three-week closing low, weighed down by program trading as offshore investors sold futures. Further, Hong Kong and China shares extended losses ending with a cut of about one and a half percent, led by banks and energy stocks, as weak corporate results underscored fears that the slowdown in China is hurting profitability more than expected.

Asian Indices

Last Trade

Change in Points

Change in %

Shanghai Composite

2,252.16

-32.72

-1.43

Hang Seng

20,609.39

-276.03

-1.32

Jakarta Composite

4,105.17

14.59

0.36

KLSE Composite

1,585.44

1.69

0.11

Nikkei 225

10,114.79

-67.78

-0.67

Straits Times

2,994.09

-21.89

-0.73

Seoul Composite

2,014.41

-17.33

-0.85

Taiwan Weighted

7,872.66

-165.41

-2.06

© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×