Asian equities extend downtrend; overlook optimistic Wall Street cues

16 Nov 2011 Evaluate

Uncertainties looming over the European region once again remained the primary overhang for the markets in Asia as dissuaded investors kept trimming hefty positions from risky asset classes like equities. The mounting concerns over the ability of new governments in Greece and Italy to tackle the sovereign debt trouble undermined sentiments while the sharp rise in yields of some major Euro-zone nations fuelled risks that the two-year debt crisis may spread to other bigger economies in the region. Meanwhile, marketmen even went ahead to buck the positive close on Wall Street overnight which came on the back of encouraging US economic reports showing that retail sales rose more than expected while consumer spending too increased better than anticipated in October.

The benchmark in Japan traded on an unenthusiastic note with marginal losses as market participants there remained on the sidelines awaiting the central bank's monetary policy decision. While the shares in China and Hong Kong were witnessing heavy pounding as they traded with large cuts after investors worries grew over the earnings outlook amid concerns that aggressive liquidity tightening is hurting economic growth.

Shanghai Composite plunged 32.87 points or 1.30% to 2,496.89, Hang Seng plummeted 370.35 points or 1.91% to 18,978.09, Jakarta Composite declined 15.52 points or 0.41% to 3,798.32, Nikkei 225 eased 11.95 points or 0.14% to 8,529.98, Straits Times shed 13.90 points or 0.49% to 2,797.68, Seoul Composite fell 10.82 points or 0.57% to 1,875.30 and Taiwan Weighted sank 75.71 points or 1.01% to 7,415.35.

On the flipside only, KLSE Composite gained 0.93 points or 0.06% to 1,478.15.

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