Asian markets conclude Friday's trade on mixed note

12 Jul 2013 Evaluate

Asian markets concluded the Friday’s trade on mixed note with Japan’s Nikkei managing to close in green after the country’s central bank struck an optimistic note about the economy, using the word recover for the first time in more than two years and pointing to a pick-up in investment as well as consumer and business confidence. The Bank of Japan left its vast monetary easing program -- a huge bond-buying scheme unveiled in April -- unchanged, saying the situation for the world’s number three economy was looking up. BoJ board members slightly adjusted their growth forecasts, with their fresh median forecast at 2.8% in a range of 2.5 to 3.0% growth. Malaysia’s KLSE Composite too edged higher after the central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged for a 13th straight meeting even as economic growth slows, in order to guard against risks stemming from rising household debt.

China’s Shanghai Composite closed the trade on negative note as there was some profit-taking going on since investors doubted yesterday’s rally would hold because the economic fundamentals remained weak. Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei stated that his nation’s economy will fall short of its targets, saying that growth rate will likely average 7% this year. Such a result would come in below the government’s 7.5% target and would mark a slowdown from 7.7% growth reported for the first quarter of this year. The nation is due to report second-quarter GDP on Monday.

Singapore's Strait Times ended the trade on negative note despite its economy expanding faster than expected in the second quarter, this was due to a recovery in manufacturing output and an acceleration in services output. Gross domestic product rose 15.2% in the April-to-June period on a seasonally adjusted and annualized basis, compared with a 1.8% expansion in the first quarter, according to advance estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. GDP expanded 0.2% from a year earlier in the first quarter. Singapore’s advance GDP estimates are computed largely from data in the first two months of the quarter. Detailed GDP estimates will be published next month.

Asian Indices

Last Trade

Change in Points

Change in %

Shanghai Composite

2039.49

-33.50

-1.62

Hang Seng

21277.28

-160.21

-0.75

Jakarta Composite

4633.11

28.89

0.63

KLSE Composite

1785.65

4.50

0.25

Nikkei 225

14506.25

33.67

0.23

Straits Times

3236.06

-12.86

-0.40

KOSPI Composite

1869.98

-7.62

-0.41

Taiwan Weighted

8220.49

40.95

0.50

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