Global economic uncertainty drags Asian markets lower

Most of the Asian equity indices finished the day’s trade in the negative terrain on Thursday as global economic uncertainty shook confidence and Japan’s strong yen continued to bite. Japanese Nikkei dropped over a percent as yen’s strength hurts Japanese exporters by making their products more expensive abroad and reducing their repatriated overseas earnings. Meanwhile, the Country’s exports fell for a fifth straight month in July. Exports were down 3.3 per cent from a year ago to 5.78 trillion yen ($75.4 billion). Moreover, Seoul Composite declined over one and a half percent led by technology stocks which pulled market down amid persistent concerns over the lack of demand for microchips and liquid crystal display units. Samsung Electronics was down 6% and Hynix was 10.5% lower.