Asian equity markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday due to selling pressure after the US proposed tariffs on an extra $200 billion of Chinese goods and China vowed to take countermeasures, without elaborating further. Chinese shares ended lower and the yuan drifted lower on worries the ongoing trade row could hurt economic growth. Further, Japanese shares ended lower to snap a three-day winning streak as fears about the global economic outlook due to the escalating trade war weighed on shippers and machinery makers. Core machine orders in Japan fell 3.7 percent sequentially in May, the Cabinet Office said - coming in at 907.9 billion yen. The headline figure beat expectations for a decline of 4.9 percent following the 10.1 percent spike in April. On a yearly basis, machine orders surged 16.5 percent - again topping forecasts for 10.9 percent following the 9.6 percent jump in the previous month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,777.20 | -50.43 | -1.82 |
Hang Seng | 28,311.69 | -370.56 | -1.31 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,893.36 | 11.60 | 0.20 |
KLSE Composite | 1,688.77 | 1.64 | 0.10 |
Nikkei 225 | 21,932.21 | -264.68 | -1.21 |
Straits Times | 3,249.08 | -25.75 | -0.79 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,280.62 | -13.54 | -0.59 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,676.84 | -80.05 | -0.75 |
