Majority of the Asian stocks started the trading week in green for the second time in row, assisted by analysts’ predictions that the Fed may delay tapering its stimulus bond-buying program till December, after the release of the US housing data.
Sales of new houses in the US advanced 13.4% on an adjusted annual rate of 394,000 in July, while the other four regions showed declines, the released government data confirmed. The weak housing data released pushed commodity prices higher, as investors saw it as a indication that the Federal Reserve (Fed) is likely to postpone its tapering of its bond-buying program until December.
Asian Stocks – Japan’s Tax-Hike Worries
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was seen at a low 13,636.28 points, declining 0.18%. The choppy trade occurred due to worries on whether Tokyo would proceed with increasing the consumption tax as predicted.
The Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed about the proposed tax rise on Monday, with a plan to increase sales tax from5% to 8% from April next year. The construction and real-estate shares rose with Sumitomo Realty & Development by 3.9%. The improvement in the housing market was assisted by the government stimulus and purchases before the expected consumption tax boost in April.
However, the Japanese yen was strengthened, hurting the country’s exporters. Out of the exporters that were affected are Mitsubishi Electric edged down 0.4%, the carmakers Suzuki Motors lost 1.9% and Konica Minolta fell 3.3% as the US dollar still remained under the ¥99-threshold.
Tokyo’s broader gauge, the Topix index fell 0.23% to 1,139.06.
Majority of the stocks in the trading session in China were seen in green, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.66% to 22,007.30 points, while China’s mainland Shanghai Composite rose1.45% to 2,087.29 points. Shares of China Construction Bank in Hong Kong rose 1.2%, while in Shanghai edged up 0.9%, after the bank posted an increase of 13% in its first-half profit.
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