Most of the Asian markets barring KLSE Composite and Straits Times concluded Tuesday’s trade in red ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, with Japan weighed down by a stronger yen. The meeting is important as regional markets were subject to a number of selloffs in the summer, especially in Southeast Asia, as investors became worried that the Fed could change direction on stimulus. Shanghai’s industrial production grew faster in August while fixed-asset investment and inflation growth both quickened a little, the city’s statistics bureau stated. Industrial production grew 4.7 percent from a year earlier to 270 billion yuan ($43.5 billion) last month, accelerating from the pace of 2.5 percent in July and 0.9 percent in June.
Besides, sales of new homes rose to an 11-week high in Shanghai last week amid robust buying in the mid to low-end segments. The purchases of new homes, excluding government-funded affordable housing, jumped over 10 percent from the previous week to 285,600 square meters during the seven-day period ended on Sunday. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China rose 6.37 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2013, adding it was a sign of investor confidence in the world’s second-biggest economy. Incoming FDI, which excludes financial sectors, reached $79.77 billion for the January-August period.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2185.56 | -45.84 | -2.05 |
Hang Seng | 23180.52 | -71.89 | -0.31 |
Jakarta Composite | 4517.62 | -4.62 | -0.10 |
KLSE Composite | 1774.94 | 4.14 | 0.23 |
Nikkei 225 | 14311.67 | -93.00 | -0.65 |
Straits Times | 3180.92 | 1.44 | 0.05 |
KOSPI Composite | 2005.58 | -7.79 | -0.39 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8249.78 | -5.56 | -0.07 |
