Anxiety over global economic outlook rattle Asian equities

23 Nov 2011 Evaluate

Asian benchmark indices are once again exhibiting dispiriting trends in Wednesday morning trades amid prolonged anxiety over the fate of global economic growth. A majority of markets in the region got battered by over a percent on discouraging reports from both sides of the Atlantic. On one hand the US economy expanded at a slower than expected pace in the third quarter, evident after the Commerce Department lowered its GDP growth estimates to 2% from earlier estimates of 2.5%. While on the other, Spain's borrowing costs hit 14 year highs as political uncertainty over a solution to the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis, continued to weigh on investors’ morale. Marketmen also overlooked the IMF’s move to beef up its lending instruments and launch a six-month liquidity line, to bolster the flexibility and scope of its emergency programs to aid nations that may face liquidity problems.

The benchmark in Hong Kong traded with large cuts of over two percent, being the top laggard in the space, on the back of reports that Chinese preliminary manufacturing PMI decelerated at a faster-than-expected pace to a 32-month low levels in November, signaling contraction in the activity. Shares in Seoul too got pummeled by around two percent as hefty position squaring in heavyweight stocks dragged the benchmark while the overnight sell-off on Wall Street too undermined sentiments.

Shanghai Composite declined 13.61 points or 0.56% to 2,399.01, Hang Seng got dragged 369.68 points or 2.03% to 17,881.91, Jakarta Composite plunged 44.74 points or 1.20% to 3,690.79, KLSE Composite sank 11.43 points or 0.79% to 1,426.56, Straits Times plummeted 40.81 points or 1.50% to 2,676.39, Seoul Composite nosedived 33.93 points or 1.86% to 1,792.35 and Taiwan Weighted slumped 117.63 points or 1.68% to 6,882.40.

Japanese markets remained closed on Wednesday on account of Labor Thanksgiving day.

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