Renewed fears over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis drags Asian shares lower

17 Apr 2012 Evaluate

Renewed fears over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis continued to dampen sentiment in Asian region and most of the Asian equity indices snapped the day’s trade in the negative terrain on Tuesday. Moreover, data showing foreign direct investment in the mainland China continued to decline too weighed on the sentiments. Fears that Spain could follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal in needing a bailout sent the cost of the country’s debt above six percent for the first time since late last year. Spanish 10-year government bond yields rose above 6 percent on Monday for the first time since the beginning of December, fuelling concerns that Madrid could fail to meet deficit targets as the country acknowledged it has probably tipped into its second recession since 2009. 

Meanwhile, mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stocks edged lower in the trade after foreign direct investment (FDI) in China fell in March for the fifth consecutive month, official figures showed Tuesday, as Europe continues to struggle with its debt crisis and economic weakness. Investment from overseas fell 6.1 percent in March from a year earlier to $11.8 billion. Moreover, Seoul shares fell slightly as investors took to the sidelines to assess the euro zone’s latest debt troubles and await the results of a Spanish bond auction.

Asian Indices

Last Trade

Change in Points

Change in %

Shanghai Composite

2,334.98

-22.04

-0.94

Hang Seng

20,562.31

-48.33

-0.23

Jakarta Composite

4,157.37

10.78

0.26

KLSE Composite

1,596.19

-1.32

-0.08

Nikkei 225

9,464.71

-5.93

-0.06

Straits Times

2,986.59

-5.53

-0.18

Seoul Composite

1,985.30

-7.33

-0.37

Taiwan Weighted

7,585.87

-143.99

-1.86

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