Asian markets ended mostly lower on Monday as hopes for an aggressive rate reduction by the US central bank faded and tensions between Britain and Iran rose in the Gulf. Japanese shares closed modestly lower as investors scaled back expectations of a 50-bps rate cut at the July 30-31 Fed meeting. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling bloc won a solid majority in Japan's upper house election on Sunday, helping limit the downside to some extent. Further, Seoul shares ended little changed with a negative bias after the release of weak trade data showing that the country's exports for the first 20 days of this month declined a sharp 13.6 percent from a year earlier. Investors also took a cautious stance ahead of the corporate earnings season. Moreover, Chinese stocks closed lower as Nasdaq-style technology board on the Shanghai Stock Exchange marked its debut.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,886.97 | -37.23 | -1.27 |
Hang Seng | 28,371.26 | -394.14 | -1.37 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,433.55 | -22.99 | -0.36 |
KLSE Composite | 1,655.40 | -2.79 | -0.17 |
Nikkei 225 | 21,416.79 | -50.20 | -0.23 |
Straits Times | 3,357.22 | -20.74 | -0.61 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,093.34 | -1.02 | -0.05 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,944.53 | 71.34 | 0.66 |
