Asian equity markets ended mixed on Wednesday after US government bond yields surged on expectations for further interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and North Korea suspended talks with South Korea scheduled for later in the day, citing the South Korea-US joint military exercises. This has raised concerns about the planned summit between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in June. Japanese shares fell amid renewed geopolitical uncertainty on the Korean Peninsula. Weak GDP data also weighed on markets. Data showed that the world's third-biggest economy contracted a more than expected 0.6 percent in the January-March period on an annualized basis to suffer its first contraction since 2015.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,169.57 | -22.55 | -0.71 |
Hang Seng | 31,110.20 | -41.83 | -0.13 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,841.46 | 3.35 | 0.06 |
KLSE Composite | 1,858.26 | 10.06 | 0.54 |
Nikkei 225 | 22,717.23 | -100.79 | -0.44 |
Straits Times | 3,533.05 | -7.18 | -0.20 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,459.82 | 1.28 | 0.05 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,897.57 | 22.84 | 0.21 |
