The Asian markets have made a soft start and barring one or two, all indices in the region were trading in red. Traders are awaiting Feds policy meet outcome from US and a court ruling on German participation in Europe’s permanent bailout fund. The Chinese market has dropped on concern the economic slowdown is deepening after auto sales missed analysts’ estimates. Meanwhile, Macquarie cut its 2012 growth forecast for China to 7.7 percent from 8.1 percent, saying it sees the slowdown continuing into the third quarter and limited room for monetary expansion next year amid inflationary pressure.
Shanghai Composite was down by 17.96 points or 0.84% to 2,116.93, Hang Seng lost 126.61 points or 0.64% to 19,700.56, Jakarta Composite lost 20.36 points or 0.49% to 4,140.39, KLSE Composite plunged by 18.97 points or 1.17% to 1,602.07, Nikkei 225 was declined by 72.39 points or 0.82% to 8,796.98 and Kospi Composite was down by 3.59 points or 0.17% to 1,921.67.
On the other hand, Straits Times added 2.30 points or 0.09% to 3,011.51, and Taiwan Weighted has gained 2.73 points or 0.04% to 7,484.54.