The Asian markets barring Japanese Nikkei were closed for trade on Friday on account of Lunar New Year holiday. The Japanese market concluded the trade in red on cautious note despite positive lead from Wall Street. Markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia are all closed for Lunar New Year holiday. Indonesia’s economy likely grew less than 6% in 2013, marking its slowest pace of growth in four years, as the end of a commodity boom hit exports and a widening current-account deficit undermined investor confidence. Inflation in Japan picked up speed in December, placing pressure on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government to encourage wage gains as he attempts to free the nation from the deflationary debility that has lasted 15 years.
Japan’s core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh-food costs, climbed 1.3% from a year earlier in December, faster than a 1.2% gain in the previous month. According to other data, 103 jobs were available for every 100 person hunting for employment, thus revealing a tightening in the labor market that might put pressure on companies to raise salaries. As for Japanese manufacturing activity, the Markit/JMMA Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 56.6 in January, from 55.2 in the previous month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | - | - | - |
Hang Seng | - | - | - |
Jakarta Composite | - | - | - |
KLSE Composite | - | - | - |
Nikkei 225 | 14914.53 | -92.53 | -0.62 |
Straits Times |
| - | - |
KOSPI Composite | - | - | - |
Taiwan Weighted | - | - | - |