After three days of continuous rally, sentiments turned bearish in the Asian region and all the Asian equity indices shut shop in the negative terrain on last trading day of the week as market participants remained influenced by the disappointing overnight cues from US markets after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke dimmed hopes for more stimulus measures while Fitch downgraded Spain’s credit rating also dampened the traders’ sentiment. However, the downside in markets remained capped after reports showed that Chinese central bank unexpectedly slashed benchmark lending and deposit rates by 25 basis points in its bid to prop up flagging growth rate while giving banks additional flexibility to set competitive lending and deposit rates.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong and Shanghai shares fell 0.51% and 0.94% respectively on Friday despite China’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time in three-and-a-half years to kickstart economic growth. While, Japanese Nikkei dropped over two percent as lurking fears on the eurozone, disappointment with the U.S. Federal and caution on China’s economy weighed on sentiment. The drop was also triggered as investors booked profits after a major settlement of June options earlier in the session.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,281.45 | -11.68 | -0.51 |
Hang Seng | 18,502.34 | -175.95 | -0.94 |
Jakarta Composite | 3,825.33 | -15.27 | -0.40 |
KLSE Composite | 1,570.62 | -4.69 | -0.30 |
Nikkei 225 | 8,459.26 | -180.46 | -2.09 |
Straits Times | 2,737.89 | -21.37 | -0.77 |
KOSPI Composite | 1,835.64 | -12.31 | -0.67 |
Taiwan Weighted | 6,999.65 | -80.66 | -1.14 |