The movement of major Asian stock exchanges rarely occurs in the same direction. In the middle of the week, however, stocks in China, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo weakened. Although the reasons for the bad mood of investors were different.
Trading in Shanghai on Wednesday was affected by fears of a slowdown in the Chinese economy. The Shanghai aggregate index fell by 1.1 percent and the main index by 1.2 percent. Wednesday’s decline followed two days of continuous growth. The bad mood in the market prevailed despite the reduction of the required minimum reserve ratio by the Chinese central bank.
Analysts said investors did not have much confidence that such a measure could avert a slowdown in economic growth. This was, after all, the reason for a similar development on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The Hang Seng Index lost 0.6 percent. The market also saw new signs of growing US-Chinese tensions in trade relations.
The Seoul Stock Exchange also saw a slight decline, with the aggregate KOSPI index falling by 0.2 percent, due to current US inflation data. Investors expected the reaction of the Fed, which later assured that it does not intend to tighten monetary policy yet. The Tokyo Stock Exchange depreciated 0.38 percent, and there was also nervousness about the announcement of rising consumer prices in the US.
