Asian markets trade mostly lower in early deals on Thursday

19 May 2022 Evaluate

Most of the Asian equity benchmarks traded lower in early deals on Thursday, as the disappointing quarterly results from major US retailers triggered fears about global economic slowdown. Besides, soaring inflation, bets over aggressive interest rate hikes by Central banks and profit booking at prevailing levels pressured the investments. Japan’s Nikkei extended sharp losses of the previous session, as major exporters fell with the stronger local currency yen. Meanwhile, Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 839.2 billion yen in April, exceeding expectations for a shortfall of 1,150 billion yen following the downwardly revised 414.1 billion yen deficit in March (originally a 412.4 billion yen deficit). Exports rose by 12.5% on year to 8.076 trillion yen, shy of forecasts for an increase of 13.8 percent and slowing from 14.7% in the previous month. Imports widened an annual 28.2%, missing expectations for a gain of 35.0% and down from 31.2% a month earlier. Moreover, the value of core machine orders in Japan was up 7.6% on year in March, beating forecasts for an increase of 3.7%.For the first quarter of 2022, core machine orders fell 3.6% on quarter and gained 6.1% on year after advancing 5.1% on quarter and 6.4% on year in the three months prior. For the second quarter of 2022, core machine orders are seen lower by 8.1% on quarter and 5.6% on year.

Nikkei 225 down by 454.99 points or 1.69% to 26,456.21, Straight times declined by 13.26 points or 0.41% to 3,212.09, Hang Seng dipped by 464.98 points or 2.25% to 20,179.30, Taiwan Weighted lost 314.72 points or 1.93% to 15,982.14, KOSPI curtailed by 28.95 points or 1.10% to 2,597.03, Shanghai Composite shrunk by 2.59 points or 0.08% to 3,083.39 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI lower by 3.89 points or 0.25% to 1,551.02.

Bucking the trend, Jakarta Composite increased by 23.59 points or 0.35% to 6,817.00.

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