Asian markets ended mostly in red on Wednesday as worries about global economic growth and the uncertainty over US-China trade talks kept investors on the sidelines. Underlying sentiment remained cautious after the reports suggested that the United States has rejected Beijing's offer to hold a preparatory meeting in Washington ahead of next week's high-level trade talks. However, White House adviser Lawrence Kudlow stressed that the two sides were on track to have ‘very, very important’ high-level talks at the end of the month that will be ‘determinative’. Chinese shares ended marginally higher on hopes that increased Chinese spending would stem an economic slowdown. Further, Japanese shares closed tad lower as export data fell short of expectations and the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady, as widely expected, and cut its price projections. The Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy unchanged today but downgraded the inflation forecast for this year primarily driven by a sharp fall in oil prices.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,581.00 | 1.30 | 0.05 |
Hang Seng | 27,008.20 | 2.75 | 0.01 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,451.17 | -17.39 | -0.27 |
KLSE Composite | 1,688.14 | -13.98 | -0.82 |
Nikkei 225 | 20,593.72 | -29.19 | -0.14 |
Straits Times | 3,171.11 | -21.60 | -0.68 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,127.78 | 10.01 | 0.47 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,846.40 | -48.26 | -0.49 |
