Bargain hunting pulls Asian equities higher

24 Nov 2011 Evaluate

Most Asian stock markets were slightly higher on Thursday, with several exchanges reversing morning losses amid a rise in US stock futures, even as many investors remained cautious after Germany’s failure to auction all the bonds it offered Wednesday. The surprising recovery in markets could be simply due to the fact that the sellers are exhausted and investors are looking to take advantage of recent share-price weakness to snap up some blue chips. China shares ended higher on Thursday, snapping six days of losses as property and financial shares turned higher. However, Nikkei average fell almost 2% to close at a two-and-a-half-year low on Thursday, hurt by a worrying German bond sale and expectations that mounting European debt concerns will continue to push overseas equities markets lower.

Earlier in the morning, Asian exchanges were lower due to continued worries over the euro zone’s debt crisis after slightly less than two-thirds of the bonds offered at a German auction were sold. There were also concerns over the Chinese economy as China watchers have forecasted the world’s second-biggest economy to see a slowdown in its growth momentum to 8.5% next year, due to weakening external demand and rising export prices caused by increasing wages and costs.

Asian Indices

Last Trade

Change in Points

Change in %

Shanghai Composite

2,397.55

2.49

0.10

Hang Seng

17,935.10

70.67

0.40

Jakarta Composite

3,696.03

9.02

0.24

KLSE Composite

1,447.99

14.82

1.03

Nikkei 225

8,165.18

-149.56

-1.80

Straits Times

2,677.15

0.58

0.02

Seoul Composite

1,795.06

11.96

0.67

Taiwan Weighted

6,864.39

57.96

0.85

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