Asian markets ended mostly in red on Monday after US President Donald Trump announced an agreement to temporarily end the record-setting 35-day-old government shutdown without getting the $5.7 billion he had demanded from Congress for a border wall. Investors looked ahead to the next round of US-China trade talks as well as the next key Brexit debate in the House of Commons for further direction. US-China trade talks will resume in Washington this week, with markets hoping for a thaw in the escalating tensions after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the two countries were ‘making a lot of progress’ in trade talks. Investors also shifted their attention to the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) two-day meeting starting Tuesday amid growing expectations of dovish hints from the US central bank. Chinese shares ended lower amid reports that the Trump's administration has been pressuring America's allies to bar Huawei and other Chinese tech firms from building the infrastructure needed for the implementation of the next generation 5G wireless standard. Further, Japanese shares closed down as the yen strengthened and investors braced for earnings results from major US tech companies such as Apple and Microsoft.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,596.98 | -4.74 | -0.18 |
Hang Seng | 27,576.96 | 7.77 | 0.03 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,458.71 | -24.13 | -0.37 |
KLSE Composite | 1,697.50 | -3.53 | -0.21 |
Nikkei 225 | 20,649.00 | -124.56 | -0.60 |
Straits Times | 3,199.50 | -2.75 | -0.09 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,177.30 | -0.43 | -0.02 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,013.33 | 43.72 | 0.44 |
