Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday, as sterling crawled higher and the yen held steady against its rivals on easing concerns over Britain's exit from the European Union. Investors shrugged off Japan’s weak industrial production data, as more signs of sluggishness added pressure on the Bank of Japan to expand its massive stimulus at a rate review on July 28 -29. Meanwhile, official data showed that Japan's industrial output fell 2.3 percent in May from April when it rose 0.5 percent, marking the first drop in three months. Japanese shares erased earlier gains to end almost flat, but suffered its biggest monthly decline in four years as the shock of Britain's vote to leave the European Union sowed deep uncertainty. The Chinese stocks too ended marginally lower after three days of gains, as investors looked ahead to factory and service sector activity readings due on Friday for further direction.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,929.61 | -1.99 | -0.07 |
Hang Seng | 20,794.37 | 358.25 | 1.75 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,016.65 | 36.54 | 0.73 |
KLSE Composite | 1,654.08 | 11.87 | 0.72 |
Nikkei 225 | 15,575.92 | 9.09 | 0.06 |
Straits Times | 2,840.93 | 48.20 | 1.73 |
KOSPI Composite | 1,970.35 | 13.99 | 0.72 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8,666.58 | 80.02 | 0.93 |