Asian equity markets ended in red on Wednesday after Wall Street suffered its worst day this year on worries about whether President Donald Trump will be able to deliver his promises on reforming regulations, increasing infrastructure spending and lowering corporate taxes. Trump told House Republicans on Tuesday that they could lose re-election in the 2018 midterms if they vote against the GOP health care bill planned for Thursday. It is feared that a failure to approve the Obamacare replacement plan could endanger more of Trump's legislative and policy agenda. Chinese stocks closed modestly lower, dragged down by banks and property developers, amid worries over tightening liquidity in the banking system. Further, Japanese shares ended lower as reports of North Korean missile launch and worries that Trump will struggle to deliver promised tax cuts sent the yen soaring to strongest levels since November. Investors largely shrugged off better-than-expected Japanese trade data for February and the BoJ's minutes from the January policy meeting.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,245.22 | -16.39 | -0.50 |
Hang Seng | 24,320.41 | -272.71 | -1.11 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,534.09 | -9.00 | -0.16 |
KLSE Composite | 1,748.30 | -6.37 | -0.36 |
Nikkei 225 | 19,041.38 | -414.50 | -2.13 |
Straits Times | 3,118.19 | -40.38 | -1.28 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,168.30 | -10.08 | -0.46 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,922.66 | -49.83 | -0.50 |