Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday as spike of corona virus cases in Beijing and United States dampened investor confidence over the potential economic recovery. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in virtual testimony to the House Financial Services Committee that it would be a concern if Congress were to pull back from the support that it is providing too quickly. Japanese shares declined as the yen strengthened against the dollar, hurting the earnings outlook for exporters. Seoul shares ended modestly lower as the market sentiment was dented by the tensions with North Korea. Though, Chinese shares gained after China's central bank governor said he wants the flow of credit in the economy to increase to at least 30 trillion yuan ($4.2 trillion) this year, as part of efforts to push the economy out of the corona virus-induced slump.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,939.32 | 3.45 | 0.12 |
Hang Seng | 24,464.94 | -16.47 | -0.07 |
Jakarta Composite | 4,925.25 | -62.53 | -1.25 |
KLSE Composite | 1,504.91 | -21.41 | -1.40 |
Nikkei 225 | 22,355.46 | -100.30 | -0.45 |
Straits Times | 2,665.66 | -3.96 | -0.15 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,133.48 | -7.57 | -0.35 |
Taiwan Weighted | 11,548.33 | 13.74 | 0.12 |
