The Asian markets concluded Thursday’s trade mostly in red as investors remained cautious ahead of the major risk events that are scheduled to occur at the end of the week. Over the weekend, China will start a major political meeting - the so-called Third Plenum - where the country’s new leadership is expected to unveil a blueprint for economic policy for the next decade. Bank Indonesia’s consumer confidence index, based on more than 4,600 households, rose 2.4 points to 109.5 in October. In September, the index stood at 107.1. Readings above 100 means consumers are generally optimistic about economic conditions. Indonesia’s Finance Minister Chatib Basri stated that the country’s top priority is to halt a widening current account deficit even if does mean deliberately slowing Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong reached $309.6 billion at end October, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority stated. This represented an increase of 2 percent from $303.5 billion at end September. The total foreign currency reserve assets represent more than seven times the currency in circulation.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2129.40 | -10.21 | -0.48 |
Hang Seng | 22881.03 | -155.91 | -0.68 |
Jakarta Composite | 4486.11 | 36.35 | 0.82 |
KLSE Composite | 1806.61 | 3.56 | 0.20 |
Nikkei 225 | 14228.44 | -108.87 | -0.76 |
Straits Times | 3202.10 | -3.19 | -0.10 |
KOSPI Composite | 2004.04 | -9.63 | -0.48 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8283.71 | 1.74 | 0.02 |
