The Asian markets have made a weak start with all the indices in red and lots of them witnessing cut of over a percent on concerns of slowing global growth. There was also disappointment that European leaders were not making any significant progress in solving the region’s debt crisis. Chinese market was weighed down by weak PMI data and a report that the government is studying further measures to strengthen its control of the property market. The Japanese market too, has lost traction and was down by over a percent as yen headed for its biggest five-day advance against the dollar in 12 weeks and against most of its 16 major peers after reports showed US jobless claims increased and manufacturing gauges in Europe contracted.
Shanghai Composite was down by 15.83 points or 0.75% to 2,097.25, Hang Seng slumped by 234.32 points or 1.16% to 19,897.92, Jakarta Composite declined by 20.35 points or 0.49% to 4,140.04, KLSE Composite was marginally down by 1.47 points or 0.09% to 1,650.05, Nikkei 225 declined by 100.94 points or 1.10% to 9,077.18, Straits Times was lower by 9.80 points or 0.30% to 3,047.43, Kospi Composite was down by 20.40 points or 1.14% to 1,922.29 and Taiwan Weighted has lost 25.27 points or 0.34% to 7,479.89.