Asian equities exhibit sluggish trends; Korean and Taiwanese shares plunge

18 Aug 2011 Evaluate

Stock markets in Asia are putting up a dismal show in Thursday’s trades as investors in the region largely remained cautious, lacking any significant upside triggers. Dull leads from overnight US and European markets failed to provide any momentum as caution reigned in the still-jittery markets. Reports including two Federal Reserve officials warning against applying too much stimulus to the world’s largest economy and economic report of US producer price index rising 0.2% in July following a 0.4% decrease, too weighed on the Asian markets.

Shares in Japan succumbed to selling pressure as the yen approached a post-World War II high while sentiments were also damaged by the exports data released by finance ministry which showed that exports fell for the fifth straight month by 3.3% in July as the country grapples with the ongoing impact of March's earthquake and tsunami. Benchmarks in Seoul and Taiwan got butchered by close to two percent, dragged by technology shares which pulverized after Dell's disappointing outlook fueled concerns about a weakening economy.

Shanghai Composite declined 8.77 points or 0.34% to 2,592.49, Hang Seng eased 10.82 points or 0.05% to 20,278.21, KLSE Composite inched down 0.66 points or 0.04% to 1,502.41, Nikkei 225 slipped 37.74 points or 0.42% to 9,019.52, Seoul Composite plummeted 33.37 points or 1.76% to 1,859.30 and Taiwan Weighted plunged 134.83 points or 1.74% to 7,606.93.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite climbed 35.17 points or 0.89% to 3,988.44 and Straits Times advanced 15.97 points or 0.56% to 2,844.50.

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