Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Tuesday as investors shrugged off US President Donald Trump's drubbing on health care and turned hopeful that the White House will take a lead role in crafting legislation to overhaul the US tax code, which has bi-partisan support across the country. Japanese shares rebounded from a six-week low as oil prices edged up in Asian deals and the dollar recovered from its lowest level since November against the yen on hopes Trump would be able to enact promised tax cuts and infrastructure spending. Though, Chinese shares ended lower on concerns about tightening liquidity conditions after the central bank refrained from injecting short-term funds into the banking system for the third session in a row. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) skipped open market operations again on Tuesday, saying liquidity levels in the banking system were ‘appropriate’ and there was no reason to inject more funds. The Indonesian market was closed for the Hindu New Year holiday.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,252.95 | -14.01 | -0.43 |
Hang Seng | 24,345.87 | 152.17 | 0.63 |
Jakarta Composite | - | - | - |
KLSE Composite | 1,754.42 | 9.47 | 0.54 |
Nikkei 225 | 19,202.87 | 217.28 | 1.14 |
Straits Times | 3,157.82 | 30.94 | 0.99 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,163.31 | 7.65 | 0.35 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,876.45 | -0.32 | -- |