Most of the Asian markets barring Taiwan Weighted concluded Monday’s trade in green as sentiment was buoyed by hope of fresh measures from the Chinese government. The State Council notified that it will continue to deepen economic reform and transform the economy, pushing up technology stocks expected to benefit from new policies. South Korea and Malaysia signed a currency swap agreement worth $4.7 billion, in a move to encourage bilateral trade and help curb currency swings. In Hong Kong, rising prices of vegetables accelerated consumer prices by 4.6 percent in September over the same month a year earlier, compared with 4.5 percent in August. In the first nine months, the Composite CPI increased by 4.3 percent on year.
Japan logged a record run of monthly trade deficits after the country’s energy bill soared in September, but exports to China were buoyant after a territorial dispute a year earlier hammered demand for Japanese goods. Japan’s trade deficit expanded 64.1 percent on-year to $9.5 billion in September as a weak yen pushed up import costs. The merchandise trade shortfall came to 932.1 billion yen ($9.5 billion) against a deficit the previous year of 568.2 billion yen. That was the 15th straight month of deficit, the longest spell since comparable data started in 1979. The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry stated that Japan’s All Industries Activity Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.3%, from 0.4% in the preceding month whose figure was revised down from 0.5%.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2229.24 | 35.46 | 1.62 |
Hang Seng | 23438.15 | 98.05 | 0.42 |
Jakarta Composite | 4578.18 | 31.61 | 0.70 |
KLSE Composite | 1802.61 | 3.02 | 0.17 |
Nikkei 225 | 14693.57 | 132.03 | 0.91 |
Straits Times | 3195.76 | 2.86 | 0.09 |
KOSPI Composite | 2053.01 | 0.61 | 0.03 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8419.32 | -21.87 | -0.26 |
