Asian markets conclude Friday’s trade mostly in red

19 Jul 2013 Evaluate

Asian markets concluded Friday’s trade mostly in red. Japanese Nikkei retreated after opening comfortably higher in morning, with a wave of selling ahead of weekend elections in the country, dragging on other regional markets. The volatility came ahead of the country’s upper house elections this weekend, in which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is expected to easily clinch a majority. The LDP already has a majority in the lower house of the parliament, and a majority in the upper chamber of the Diet would strengthen Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government in its attempt to revive the Japanese economy. China’s Shanghai Composite too concluded the trade in red.

South Korean shares experienced choppy trade as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the Upper House election in Japan on Sunday that was expected to strengthen the weak yen trend. The weak yen trend was feared to damage price competitiveness of South Korean exporters that are competing with Japanese rivals in overseas markets. Cautiousness also remained among investors over the second-quarter earnings season that will be start from next week. Besides, the central bank data showed that corporate bankruptcies in South Korea fell to a record low last month as local financial institutions eased lending attitude toward small businesses.

Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite concluded in green. The country’s central bank raised $600 million in its first currency swaps auction, well above its indicative target of $500 million. The swaps with tenure of one, three and six-months were oversubscribed with incoming bids worth $1.24 billion, Bank Indonesia reported. Hong Kong managed to close in green but utilities fell and developers slid amid concern more cities will take steps to cool the property market.

Asian Indices

Last Trade

Change in Points

Change in %

Shanghai Composite

1992.65

-30.75

-1.52

Hang Seng

21362.42

17.20

0.08

Jakarta Composite

4724.41

3.98

0.08

KLSE Composite

1797.74

6.20

0.35

Nikkei 225

14589.91

-218.59

-1.48

Straits Times

3213.26

-4.94

-0.15

KOSPI Composite

1871.41

-4.07

-0.22

Taiwan Weighted

8062.03

-132.85

-1.62

© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×