Asian markets trade mostly lower on Thursday

03 Aug 2023 Evaluate

Asian markets traded mostly lower on Thursday amidst Wall Street’s fall overnight following concerns over the downgrading of US debt by a major credit rating agency Fitch. Market sentiments weakened further as upbeat US Automatic Data Processing (ADP) report fuelled US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike bets. Data showed that US private sector employment increased by 324000 jobs in July and annual pay was up 6.2 percent year-over-year. Chinese shares fell amid renewed geopolitical tensions. Moreover, Japanese shares declined after data showed that Japan's service sector activity expanded at a slightly slower pace in the month of July, while the yen held firm against the US dollar. Meanwhile, Taiwan markets are closed today as Typhoon Khanun approaches.

Nikkei 225 down 521.94 points or 1.60% to 32,185.75, Straight times dipped by 2.47 points or 0.07% to 3,322.55, KOSPI shrunk by 16.13 points or 0.62% to 2,600.34, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI narrowed by 6.16 points or 0.43% to 1,438.40.

On the flip side, Hang Seng gained by 54.47 points or 0.28% to 19,571.85, Jakarta Composite rose by 43.88 points or 0.64% to 6,898.39, and Shanghai up by 16.07 points or 0.49% to 3,277.76.

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