Asian equities mostly rebound; China logs surprise trade surplus

10 Apr 2012 Evaluate

Most markets across Asia gained some ground on Tuesday as investors covered some short positions that got build in last session’s sharp plunge. Barring the markets in China and Hong Kong, all the benchmarks equity indices in Asian region traded on a positive note with moderate gains. Investors at large shrugged the pessimistic cues from the overnight US markets, which plummeted as investors returning from an extended weekend took their first chance to react to last week’s weaker than expected unemployment data.

The Japanese benchmark rebounded well over half a percent in the session and snapped the five straight session declining run after Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady, holding fire until a more thorough assessment of the economy at another rate review on April 27. On the other hand, the Chinese markets plunged around a percent after official reports showed imports into the world’s second largest economy expanded at 5.3% from a year ago, far below the expectations of 9%, suggesting demand may be weaker than previously thought. Nonetheless, China logged an unexpected trade surplus of $5.35 billion in March against a $1.30 billion deficit forecast, and exports grew 8.9% on the year, above expectations for a 7.2% rise.

Jakarta Composite gained 9.23 points or 0.22% to 4,163.30, KLSE Composite rose 3.56 points or 0.22% to 1,594.84, Nikkei 225 climbed 73.98 points or 0.77% to 9,620.24, Straits Times added 10.83 points or 0.37% to 2,970.93, Seoul Composite moved up 7.57 points or 0.38% to 2,004.65 and Taiwan Weighted amassed 65.16 points or 0.86% to 7,666.03.

On the flipside, Shanghai Composite plunged 21.46 points or 0.94% to 2,264.32 and Hang Seng plummeted 241.82 points or 1.17% to 20,351.18.

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