The Asian markets concluded Wednesday’s trade on a mixed note, with Japan’s Nikkei average closing in red after hitting a four-week closing high the previous day, as investors took profits after weak US economic data soured sentiment. China’s credit-market gauges are triggering alarm bells, as banks grow cautious in lending to each other while investors prefer the safest government bonds. Foreign Direct Investment in Shanghai rose 10.5% in January from a year earlier to $1.093 billion, consistent with last year’s annual pace but slower than the national average of 16% for the month.
In Hong Kong, the Financial Secretary John Tsang has predicted GDP growth of 3% to 4%, and headline and underlying inflation of 4.6% and 3.7%. The country’s economy grew 2.9% last year, a marked improvement over the 1.5% growth seen in 2012. Hong Kong GDP rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.1%, from 0.5% in the preceding quarter. Singaporean Industrial Production fell to an annual rate of 3.9%, from 6.2% in the preceding month while South Korean Consumer Confidence fell to 108, from 109 in the preceding month.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2041.25 | 7.04 | 0.35 |
Hang Seng | 22437.44 | 120.24 | 0.54 |
Jakarta Composite | 4532.72 | -44.57 | -0.97 |
KLSE Composite | 1822.55 | -11.20 | -0.61 |
Nikkei 225 | 14970.97 | -80.63 | -0.54 |
Straits Times | 3088.25 | -15.37 | -0.50 |
KOSPI Composite | 1970.77 | 5.91 | 0.30 |
Taiwan Weighted | 8600.86 | 25.24 | 0.29 |