After a sharp rally in previous session, Asian equity indices resumed their south-bound journey and most of the Asian counters ended mostly in the red on Thursday as investors remained cautious ahead of a Spanish bond auction later in the global day. With the eurozone debt crisis back in focus, investors are looking to a sale of Spain's benchmark 10-year government bonds later in the day for an indication of market confidence in the under-pressure country. However, the cur remained capped on reports that Chinese central bank would boost liquidity in the nation’s giant economy.
Meanwhile, China shares ended flat on profit-taking after posting its biggest one-day percentage rise in more than two months the previous day. Though, the financial sector found support from news that Chinese authorities would increase liquidity via open market operations and cut banks' required reserves to steer the economy towards a soft landing. However, Japan’s Nikkei average slipped over 0.80 percent, reversing the previous session’s gains as investors avoided risk ahead of a closely watched Spanish bond auction later in the day.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,378.63 | -2.21 | -0.09 |
Hang Seng | 20,995.01 | 214.28 | 1.03 |
Jakarta Composite | 4,163.72 | -2.52 | -0.06 |
KLSE Composite | 1,596.62 | -2.24 | -0.14 |
Nikkei 225 | 9,588.38 | -78.88 | -0.82 |
Straits Times | 3,008.21 | 7.63 | 0.25 |
Seoul Composite | 1,999.86 | -4.67 | -0.23 |
Taiwan Weighted | 7,622.69 | 17.69 | 0.23 |