The Asian markets ended mostly in red on Wednesday, as Fed rate-hike worries, Alco's disappointing quarterly results, deepening Samsung's woes over Galaxy Note 7 and apprehensions about OPEC's ability to hammer out an output deal sapped investors' appetite for risk. Japanese stocks ended lower, retreating from a five-week high after Wall Street was hit by weak corporate earnings overnight and as investors braced for the reporting season. Chinese stocks fell as renewed worries about weakness in the yuan hurt investor sentiment and reduced the appeal of Chinese assets. The Chinese currency briefly touched a fresh six-year low, fuelling speculation of further depreciation as the dollar firms on growing expectations of a US rate hike in December, though the yuan later clawed back the losses.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,058.50 | -6.75 | -0.22 |
Hang Seng | 23,407.05 | -142.47 | -0.60 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,364.61 | -17.39 | -0.32 |
KLSE Composite | 1,667.03 | -1.69 | -0.10 |
Nikkei 225 | 16,840.00 | -184.76 | -1.09 |
Straits Times | 2,813.71 | -42.42 | -1.49 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,033.73 | 1.80 | 0.09 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,252.60 | 32.78 | 0.36 |