The Asian markets barring Nikkei 225 concluded Thursday’s trade in red as investors in the region took US Federal Reserve minutes that showed the central bank’s policy makers are still considering winding down stimulus in the coming months as a cause for concern. Decelerating manufacturing activity in China weighed on Shanghai shares, while a weaker yen boosted equities in Japan. China’s manufacturing growth is easing, partly due to a decline in export orders. The flash version of the HSBC/Markit China manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index slipped to 50.4, compared to last month’s final reading of 50.9. The result, which marked a two-month low for the PMI, was also well below the official government version of the PMI, which hit 51.4 in October.
The Bank of Japan kept its policy rates and asset-purchasing program unchanged, as widely expected. The decision, which came just three weeks after the central bank’s previous policy statement, was unanimous. It also made no changes to its assessment of the economy, which it stated that it has been recovering moderately as exports have generally been picking up. The central bank kept its growth projection for the fiscal year beginning April 2014 unchanged at 1.5%. The Singapore’s gross domestic product rose more-than-expected in the last quarter. The Statistics Singapore stated that Singaporean GDP rose to a seasonally adjusted 5.8%, from 5.1% in the preceding quarter.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2205.77 | -0.85 | -0.04 |
Hang Seng | 23580.29 | -120.57 | -0.51 |
Jakarta Composite | 4326.21 | -24.58 | -0.56 |
KLSE Composite | 1794.65 | -4.04 | -0.22 |
Nikkei 225 | 15365.60 | 289.52 | 1.92 |
Straits Times | 3172.38 | -11.85 | -0.37 |
KOSPI Composite | 1993.78 | -23.46 | -1.16 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8099.45 | -105.01 | -1.28 |
