Asian stocks closed mostly in red on Monday with muted trading as markets in Hong Kong were closed for the Easter holiday. US financial markets will open later today following Easter while European financial markets will be closed in observance of Easter Monday. Japanese shares closed lower after a closely-watched survey showed deteriorating business confidence in the first quarter. Japan's business confidence deteriorated in the first quarter on stronger yen and fears of trade war, the quarterly Tankan survey released by the Bank of Japan revealed. The business confidence index among large manufacturers dropped to 24 in March from 26 in December. This was the first fall in two years. Further, Chinese shares ended lower after manufacturing data out of China painted a mixed picture of the world's second-largest economy and China imposed tariffs on 128 types of US imports starting Monday. While official data pointed to accelerating growth in manufacturing activity in March, the Caixin survey revealed that China's manufacturing activity grew at its slowest pace in four months in the month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,163.18 | -5.72 | -0.18 |
Hang Seng | - | - | - |
Jakarta Composite | 6,240.57 | 51.58 | 0.83 |
KLSE Composite | 1,858.35 | -5.11 | -0.27 |
Nikkei 225 | 21,388.58 | -65.72 | -0.31 |
Straits Times | 3,430.76 | 2.79 | 0.08 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,444.16 | -1.69 | -0.07 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,888.27 | -31.22 | -0.29 |
