All the Asian markets barring Jakarta Composite concluded Thursday's trade in red following a weak lead from Wall Street. Minutes of the US Federal Reserve's latest policy-setting meeting released overnight pointed out that the Fed was on track to cut its bond-buying stimulus in coming months as long as the economy continues to grow as expected. The sentiments remain dampened as disappointing Chinese manufacturing data underlined concerns over the strength of the region’s largest economy. China’s Shanghai Composite fell from a two-month high as a bigger-than-estimated decline in a manufacturing gauge. The HSBC and Markit Economics revealed that the PMI came in with a score of 48.3, touching a seven-month low and well shy of forecasts for a score of 49.5.
Japanese stocks declined as traders continued to monitor movements in the currency market with firmer yen amid worries about emerging markets. Japan’s Ministry Finance reported that country’s trade deficit in January widened to 2.79 trillion yen against the expectation of 2.489 trillion yen. Exports grew 9.5% to 4,798.57 billion yen from a year earlier, while imports surged 25.0% to 6,432.11 billion yen. Now the Bank of Japan will have to take appropriate measures to counter downside risks and make adjustments as appropriate.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2138.78 | -3.77 | -0.18 |
Hang Seng | 22394.08 | -270.44 | -1.19 |
Jakarta Composite | 4598.22 | 5.57 | 0.12 |
KLSE Composite | 1827.81 | -1.64 | -0.09 |
Nikkei 225 | 14449.18 | -317.35 | -2.15 |
Straits Times | 3086.64 | -2.15 | -0.07 |
KOSPI Composite | 1930.57 | -12.36 | -0.64 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8524.62 | -52.39 | -0.61 |