Most of the Asian markets conclude Tuesday’s trade in green

03 Sep 2013 Evaluate

Most of the Asian markets barring Straits Times concluded Tuesday’s trade in green on further signs of improvements in global manufacturing.  Seoul shares rose to a three-month closing high but gains were capped by profit-taking for big stocks. China shares posted their biggest daily rise in more than a week led by the banking and property sectors. Indonesia’s major banks are robust, despite the slipping value of the rupiah, because of their low un-hedged foreign-currency exposure, strong loss-absorption cushions and in some cases foreign ownership, Fitch Ratings stated. Fitch forecast GDP growth easing toward 5% to 5.5% will weigh on the rated banks’ operating environment, but is unlikely to damage their credit profiles to any great extent.

China lowered its figure for economic growth for last year to 7.7% from 7.8%, the National Bureau of Statistics stated, in an unexpected downgrade for the key number. The world’s second-largest economy has long been looked to as a potential driver of global recovery, but has put in a mixed performance in recent months. The new figure posted remains the lowest for gross domestic product growth since 1999, when it expanded 7.6%. China’s GDP stood at 51.9 trillion yuan ($8.5 trillion) for 2012. Besides, China’s official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index was 53.9 in August compared with 54.1 in July, according to China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, which issues the data along with the National Bureau of Statistics. Yesterday a report released showed that China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 51.0 in August compared with 50.3 in July. Separately, House prices in China continued to rally in August, extending momentum for the 15th straight month. The average price of new houses in 100 cities climbed 0.92% from July to 10,442 yuan ($1,703) per square meter, the China Index Academy stated. That compared to a growth of 0.87% in July and June’s 0.77% rise. The number of cities that registered monthly price increases rose from 61 to 71.

The Census & Statistics Department of Hong Kong reported that the total retail sales value in July, provisionally estimated at $40 billion, rose 9.5% on the same month last year. After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, total retail sales volume grew 8.9%. The revised estimate of the total retail sales value in June increased by 14.7% year-on-year, while the volume of total retail sales increased by 13.3%. For the first seven months of 2013, total retail sales grew 14.2% in value and 13.6% in volume over the same period a year earlier. Separately, the number of sale and purchase agreements for all building units in August was 5,111, down 6.9% on July, and a decline of 50.7% year-on-year, the Land Registry stated.

Asian Indices

Last Trade

Change in Points

Change in %

Shanghai Composite

2123.11

24.66

1.18

Hang Seng

22394.58

219.24

0.99

Jakarta Composite

4164.01

62.78

1.53

KLSE Composite

1724.21

6.65

0.39

Nikkei 225

13978.44

405.52

2.99

Straits Times

3054.78

-0.94

-0.03

KOSPI Composite

1933.74

8.93

0.46

Taiwan Weighted

8088.37

49.51

0.62

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