Asian equity markets made a mixed closing on Wednesday as upward momentum from a record Wall Street close faded and investors grew cautious ahead of the release of the latest Fed meeting minutes and a key Chinese communist party meeting next week. Meanwhile, higher commodity prices and better-than-expected data from Japan and Australia boosted investor optimism about global growth. Traders also heaved a sigh of relief after Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont refrained from making a formal declaration of the region's independence on Tuesday. Japanese shares closed at their highest level in 21 years, with exporters and defensive stocks leading the surge after data showed Japan's core machinery orders rose for a second straight month in August. Further, Chinese shares ended higher, helped by a jump in defensive consumer staples such as big liquor producers, while resources shares curbed gains. China is on track to meeting its growth target of around 6.5 percent this year, and could well exceed it, the head of the Statistics Bureau said on Tuesday.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,388.28 | 5.30 | 0.16 |
Hang Seng | 28,389.57 | -101.26 | -0.36 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,882.79 | -22.97 | -0.39 |
KLSE Composite | 1,757.21 | -3.92 | -0.22 |
Nikkei 225 | 20,881.27 | 57.76 | 0.28 |
Straits Times | 3,280.28 | -8.67 | -0.26 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,458.16 | 24.35 | 1.00 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,641.19 | 108.38 | 1.03 |