The Asian markets concluded Thursday’s trade mostly in green with Japanese stocks closing at the highest level since November 2007 after the Federal Reserve announced plans to begin tapering its monthly bond-buying program. The US Federal Reserve’s move to pare back its bond-buying program signals that the world’s biggest economy is improving. Indonesia’s rupiah fell to a five- year low and government bonds dropped. Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry stated that Japan’s All Industries Activity Index fell to a seasonally adjusted -0.2%, from 0.4% in the preceding month.
Shanghai again led China’s house-price increases in November as a rebound in demand offset government measures to curb the market. The National Bureau of Statistics said prices for new residential properties, excluding government-funded affordable housing, rose year on year in all but one of the 70 major cities it tracks, unchanged from October and September. In Shanghai, prices surged 21.9% from a year earlier, after gaining 21.4% in October. The city was followed by an increase of 21.1% in Beijing, 21.0% in Shenzhen and 20.9% in Guangzhou, all so-called tier-1 cities.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2127.79 | -20.49 | -0.95 |
Hang Seng | 22888.75 | -255.07 | -1.10 |
Jakarta Composite | 4231.98 | 35.70 | 0.85 |
KLSE Composite | 1846.18 | -1.32 | -0.07 |
Nikkei 225 | 15859.22 | 271.42 | 1.74 |
Straits Times | 3070.23 | 8.45 | 0.28 |
KOSPI Composite | 1975.65 | 1.02 | 0.05 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8407.40 | 58.36 | 0.70 |
