Asian markets end mostly down on Friday

31 May 2024 Evaluate
Asian markets ended mostly down on Friday after Chinese shares declined following the release of sluggish PMI data from China. Chinese official manufacturing PMI fell from 50.4 to 49.5 in May, slipping into contraction after two months of expansion, while the non-manufacturing PMI ticked down slightly from 51.2 to 51.1. Market sentiments weakened further by Wall Street’s fall overnight, even as the latest US GDP data showed the world's largest economy grew at a slower pace of 1.3% against the projected 1.6% in the January-March quarter revived hopes for Fed rate cuts this year. Moreover, hawkish comments by Fed officials also put pressure on sentiments. However, Japanese shares gained as the yen declined after data showed Japan's industrial output unexpectedly fell in April and the nation's jobless rate was unchanged. The Nikkei financial news outlet said Japan is preparing to put nearly 100 trillion yen more public money into active investing. Seoul shares ended flat after the release of mixed economic data. Data showed that South Korea's industrial output rebounded in April following a sharp fall a month earlier, but retail sales and investment declined for the second consecutive month.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,086.81

-4.87

-0.16

Hang Seng

18,079.61

-150.58

-0.83

Jakarta Composite

6,970.74

-63.40

-0.91

KLSE Composite

1,596.68

-7.58

-0.47

Nikkei 225

38,487.90

433.77

1.13

Straits Times

3,336.59

13.21

0.40

KOSPI Composite

2,636.52

1.08

0.04

Taiwan Weighted

21,174.22

-190.26

-0.90

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