Asian markets end in red on Friday

Asian markets ended in red on Friday, after a warning by the European Central Bank about that region’s economic outlook sparked a rout in US shares. Taiwan market remained shut for the trade today for National Day. The Bank of Japan agreed that exports remained weak and a few of them were cautious about a sustainable rise in exports, the minutes of the bank’s September 3-4 policy meeting released showed. Despite sluggish exports and factory output, the nine-member board still believed that the positive domestic cycle from income to spending was in place in both the household and corporate sectors, and that Japan’s economy was likely to continue its moderate recovery trend, overcoming the drag from the April sales tax hike. Data released before the September meeting showed that industrial production rose only 0.2% on month as the sales tax hike continued to dampen domestic demand and overseas demand remained generally sluggish. The BoJ board decided by a unanimous vote to leave the bank’s policy target unchanged.

Japanese Household Confidence rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 39.9. Malaysian Industrial Production rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.5%, from 0.5% in the preceding month. Philippines Industrial Production fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1%, from 7.7% in the preceding month.