Asian Market Review
Asian markets have opened mostly lower on Wednesday after U.S. manufacturing data came in weak overnight, sending U.S. markets solidly lower and reigniting concerns over the strength of the global economy, especially in light of the increased tariffs implemented by both China and the U.S. this past weekend.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 is leading losses, trading down by 0.7%. Banking shares, which held up well in the prior session, are slumping today. ANZ is trading down by 1.4%, while NAB has a 0.9% loss, Westpac trades 1.3% lower, and Commonwealth Bank shares have slipped 0.9%.
In Japan the Nikkei is trading lower by just 0.1%, helped by early weakness in the Yen, which has moved back above the 106.00 level versus the U.S. dollar. The Yen weakness is surprising given the move to safe haven assets overnight following the weaker than expected U.S. manufacturing data.
Mainland China’s markets have opened slightly lower, with the Shanghai Composite down 0.1% and the smaller cap Shenzhen Composite losing 0.2%. Surprisingly Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is bucking the falling trend and leads the region with a 0.6% gain. That’s despite China issuing its strongest warning yet, with Beijing asserting it has the power to declare a state of emergency in Hong Kong.
South Korea is also bucking the falling trend in the region, with the Kospi trading 0.4% higher, while Taiwan’s Taiex trades up by 0.5%.
Southeast Asian markets are slightly higher too, with Malaysia’s KLCI up by 0.2%, and the Straits Times Index in Singapore holding a gain of less than 0.1%.
