Asian equity markets ended mostly in red on Thursday, taking the lead from a quiet overnight session on Wall Street as investors parsed through minutes from the US central bank. Hong Kong stocks ended sharply lower, with the benchmark Hang Seng falling back below the 30,000 point mark after the previous session’s breakthrough, as a tumble in mainland stocks soured sentiments. Further, Chinese shares ended lower, with the blue-chip index suffering its worst fall in nearly 1-1/2 years as worries about a selloff in the bond market bled into equities. Meanwhile, Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,351.92 | -78.55 | -2.29 |
Hang Seng | 29,707.94 | -295.55 | -0.99 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,063.25 | -6.54 | -0.11 |
KLSE Composite | 1,721.27 | -2.27 | -0.13 |
Nikkei 225 | - | - | - |
Straits Times | 3,423.17 | -6.85 | -0.20 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,537.15 | -3.36 | -0.13 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,854.57 | 31.98 | 0.30 |