Snapping earlier session’s gains, Asian markets ended mixed on Friday, as investors sentiments were hampered by lusterless manufacturing data from China and concerns over the economic fallout from Italy's political confusion as well as possible US spending cuts. China's Shanghai Composite ended lower as factory growth cooled in February to multi-month lows, signaling China's economy slipping into another slowdown. However, Japan's Nikkei went home with green mark, on expectations of strong reflationary measures from the Bank of Japan in coming months. Indonesia’s stocks closed higher as data showed country's trade deficit narrowed slightly in January from the previous month as exports posted their smallest fall in nearly a year.
South Korean markets remained closed for the trade today.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,359.51 | -6.09 | -0.26 |
Hang Seng | 22,880.22 | -140.05 | -0.61 |
Jakarta Composite | 4,811.61 | 15.82 | 0.33 |
KLSE Composite | 1,637.44 | -0.19 | -0.01 |
Nikkei 225 | 11,606.38 | 47.02 | 0.41 |
Straits Times | 3,269.50 | -0.45 | -0.01 |
KOSPI Composite | - | - | - |
Taiwan Weighted | 7,964.63 | 66.65 | 0.84 |
