Asian equity markets ended lower on Thursday as oil extended losses and the Bank of Japan held off on additional easing measures to arrest the strengthening yen in the wake of concerns surrounding next week's British referendum. The yen rose sharply to hit multi-month highs against rival currencies as BOJ officials opted to wait until after the results of a British referendum next week that could send shockwaves through the global economy. Chinese shares fell as concerns about slowing economic growth and fears of further weakness in the yuan overshadowed encouraging bank lending data. China's bank lending increased more than expected in May following a sharp fall in April. Banks extended CNY 985.5 billion in new yuan loans in the month, which was above the expected level of CNY 750 billion. China's yuan held steady against the dollar, after briefly hitting a more than five-year low on expectations of a dovish statement from the Federal Reserve. Fed officials held rates steady last night, as was widely expected, while scaling down their tightening projections and growth forecasts for 2016 and 2017, citing slow jobs gains, tepid growth, low inflation and the impending vote on Brexit, scheduled for June 23. Hong Kong shares dropped after the Bank of Japan disappointed those hoping for more stimulus measures.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,872.82 | -14.39 | -0.50 |
Hang Seng | 20,038.42 | -429.10 | -2.10 |
Jakarta Composite | 4,814.39 | -0.43 | -0.01 |
KLSE Composite | 1,614.90 | -13.06 | -0.80 |
Nikkei 225 | 15,434.14 | -485.44 | -3.05 |
Straits Times | 2,751.56 | -22.69 | -0.82 |
KOSPI Composite | 1,951.99 | -16.84 | -0.86 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8,494.14 | -112.23 | -1.30 |