Asian markets settled higher on Wednesday tracking strong gains on Wall Street overnight and after Janet Yellen said the crisis of depositors pulling money from small and mid-sized US banks is stabilizing, and the US government could provide further support if the problem widens. Moreover, the Chinese central bank, PBoC, said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio by 0.25 percentage points for financial institutions from March 27 to keep liquidity reasonably ample and serve the real economy. Meanwhile, markets are awaiting the US Fed’s decision later in the day with expectations of a 25-basis points rate hike.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,265.75 | 10.10 | 0.31 |
Hang Seng | 19,591.43 | 332.67 | 1.70 |
Jakarta Composite | -- | -- | -- |
KLSE Composite | 1,412.04 | 5.49 | 0.39 |
Nikkei 225 | 27,466.61 | 520.94 | 1.90 |
Straits Times | 3,220.98 | 47.05 | 1.46 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,416.96 | 28.61 | 1.18 |
Taiwan Weighted | 15,760.46 | 247.01 | 1.57 |
