Asian markets conclude the trade mostly in green

01 Aug 2013 Evaluate

All the Asian markets barring Taiwan Weighted, concluded Thursday’s trade in green. Chinese shares rallied after an official gauge signaled an improvement in the manufacturing sector, while Japanese Nikkei stocks were aided by a string of strong earnings reports, including from two of the nation’s largest banks. For a third month in a row, the Chinese government’s data on the country’s manufacturers differed with a privately-compiled survey on whether activity was growing or contracting. China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registered a surprise gain for July, rising to 50.3 from 50.1 the previous month. Any reading above 50 indicates activity is expanding, and the result beat expectations for a drop to 49.8. However, a separate China manufacturing PMI published by HSBC and Markit stated that activity was contracting, with the index sinking to an 11-month low of 47.7, down from June’s final reading of 48.2. The data marked the third straight month the HSBC gauge registered contraction, and also the third month the two PMIs differed on whether factory activity was rising.

Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite too ended in green. Manufacturing output in Indonesia stagnated in July as input costs soared and export orders fell, HSBC Markit’s purchasing managers’ index survey showed. Overall manufacturing business conditions improved, but just a little, the survey concluded. Its July index for Indonesian manufacturing was 50.7, compared with the previous reading of 51.0. The survey added that manufacturing output stagnated after four months of expansion. Additionally, consumer prices rose 3.29% in July following the government’s increase in the price of subsidized fuel, the highest inflation level since 2008, which also followed a subsidy cut. Separately, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) stated that Indonesia’s trade balance for June showed a $846.6 million-deficit, bringing the cumulative deficit figure for the first half of the year to $3.31 billion.

Taiwan’s gross domestic product (GDP) posted a 2.27% annual growth in the second quarter of this year, beating an earlier estimate of a 1.98% increase. The better-than-expected Q2 GDP growth reflected higher-than-anticipated exports and a mild recovery in private consumption, the Directorate General of Budget. Besides, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has maintained its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth in 2013 at 2.7%, despite better-than-expected economic growth in the second quarter.

Asian Indices

Last Trade

Change in Points

Change in %

Shanghai Composite

2029.07

35.27

1.77

Hang Seng

22088.79

205.13

0.94

Jakarta Composite

4624.34

13.96

0.30

KLSE Composite

1777.82

5.20

0.29

Nikkei 225

14005.77

337.45

2.47

Straits Times

3243.29

21.36

0.66

KOSPI Composite

1920.74

6.71

0.35

Taiwan Weighted

8056.22

-51.72

-0.64

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