Asian markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday even as the UK House of Commons voted down Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal by a crushing margin, stoking fresh uncertainty. Investors now focus on a no-confidence vote on May's government by Britain's parliament later in the day. Chinese shares ended little changed amid the political turmoil surrounding Brexit. Japanese shares ended lower, as the dollar remained defensive against the yen amid a partial government shutdown in the US and the ‘very uncertain and unstable’ political situation in Britain over its divorce from Europe. Weak Japanese data also pulled the shares lower. Reports showed Japan's core machine orders, considered a leading indicator of capital expenditure, held largely unchanged month-on-month in November, well below forecasts for an increase of 3.0 percent and down sharply from 7.6 percent in October.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,570.42 | 0.08 | -- |
Hang Seng | 26,902.10 | 71.81 | 0.27 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,413.36 | 4.58 | 0.07 |
KLSE Composite | 1,673.08 | -6.34 | -0.38 |
Nikkei 225 | 20,442.75 | -112.54 | -0.55 |
Straits Times | 3,229.11 | 16.81 | 0.52 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,106.10 | 8.92 | 0.43 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,763.81 | -42.23 | -0.43 |
