Most of the Asian markets barring Nikkei 225 concluded Friday’s trade in green following a batch of economic data from China that were roughly in line with expectations. While Chinese data showed the economy grew at its fastest clip of the year in the third quarter, more recent statistics for September suggested a mild slowdown is now underway. China’s gross domestic product was 7.8% higher in the July-September quarter compared to a year earlier, accelerating from the second quarter’s 7.5% increase, and a 7.7% rise in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics. Industrial production in China, which measures output at factories, workshops and mines, gained 10.2 percent in September year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics stated, while retail sales, a key indicator for consumer spending, was up 13.3 percent. China's business climate index, a major gauge of the country's macroeconomic outlook, rebounded slightly in the third quarter. The business climate index was 121.5 points for the third quarter, up 0.9 points from the previous quarter. Besides, fixed asset investment, a measure of government spending on infrastructure, was up by 20.2 percent during the first nine months of the year.
The volume of Hong Kong’s domestic exports dropped 11.3% in August, compared to the same month last year, while that of goods re-exports fell by 1.6%, the Census & Statistics Department announced. Taken together, the volume of total exports of goods decreased by 1.7%, while the volume of goods imports was almost unchanged. The prices of total exports of goods for the month increased by 1.1% year-on-year, while the prices of imports of goods went up 0.5%. Indonesian bonds rose this week, pushing the 10-year yield to the lowest level in almost three months, as speculation that Federal Reserve will delay tapering stimulus drove inflows.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2193.78 | 5.24 | 0.24 |
Hang Seng | 23340.10 | 245.22 | 1.06 |
Jakarta Composite | 4546.57 | 27.64 | 0.61 |
KLSE Composite | 1799.59 | 2.17 | 0.12 |
Nikkei 225 | 14561.54 | -24.97 | -0.17 |
Straits Times | 3192.90 | 6.28 | 0.20 |
KOSPI Composite | 2052.40 | 11.79 | 0.58 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8441.19 | 66.51 | 0.79 |
