SEOUL: Asian stocks declined on Wednesday as growth was tempered by fear about the fall in oil value and renewed doubts about Greece’s membership of the euro currency bloc.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 0.5 percent to 16,974.61 and Seoul’s Kospi edged up 0.2 percent to 1,885.21. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.1 percent to 23,509.91. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2 percent to 3,356.29 while Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.2 percent to 5,351.90. Stocks in Taipei and Southeast Asia rose.
“With no major economic news due for a week in this region, Asia will blindly follow the US’s lead,” IG market strategist Evan Lucas said in a report. He said the oil sell-off, the strengthening of the U.S. dollar and the gross domestic product figures from China later this month would affect investor sentiment.
Oil stabilized after another plunge on Tuesday. The benchmark U.S. futures contract was up 11 cents at $48.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract tumbled $2.11 to close at $47.93 on Tuesday. It has dropped 47 percent in the past three months as demand weakened and supplies stayed high. Lower energy costs should be positive for economic growth but there is also concern the deep plunge is a sign of weakness in the world economy. Brent crude was down 19 cents at $50.91 on the ICE exchange in London.
The possibility that Greece’s anti-austerity Syriza party might win national elections this month has fed doubts about whether the country will stick to terms of its bailout and remain in the euro bloc. Meanwhile, a new survey showed that economic growth in the eurozone was weak at the end of 2014, suggesting a robust recovery is still a dim prospect. The news helped keep pressure on the euro, which was down 0.1 percent to $1.1869, near a nine-year low.
The Federal Reserve releases minutes from its December interest-rate meeting later in the day. After last month’s meeting, the Fed said it will be “patient” in deciding when to raise interest rates. The Fed is expected to this year raise interest rates for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis.
U.S. stocks extended losses on Tuesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 closed 0.9 percent lower at 2,002.61 and the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.7 percent to 17,371.64. The Nasdaq composite dropped 1.3 percent to 4,592.74.
The dollar rose to 118.97 yen from 118.71 yen late Tuesday.
shanghai shares start week with losses 25 june 2018
Hong Kong, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Jun, 2018 ) :Hong Kong and mainland Chinese stocks fell on...