Meadville Group (HKG:3313)(Chairman's statement) 2008 was a challenging year for the Group. During the first nine months of 2008, we saw global economy slowing down as impacted by the U.S. subprime issue and high inflation. Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy in September 2008 further led to global credit crunch which caused the already fragile global economy to a decline on an unprecedented scale.
Asian stocks markets broadly opened higher on Monday on hope of the US government's plan to remove toxic assets from the troubled financial firms. Most major indices in Asia posted strong openings and surged more than 1% in early trading.
Most Asian share markets soared at opening bell following the upbeat sentiment on Wall Street overnight. Japan's Nikkei average and South Korea's Kospi opened higher this morning, but soon gave up their early gains. Tokyo stocks slid to below 8000 points level, as exporters were hurt by stronger yen.
Today the Asian markets include Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea opened higher following the upbeat sentiment in the US market. Nikkei was up by over 2% in early trade. China's Shanghai Composite opened lower but soon returned to the positive territory in early trade.
Most Asian markets ended lower Thursday, giving up gains from the previous session. Japan's Nikkei 225 finished down 2.4% as exporters were hit by the stronger yen. Other major indexes including China's Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and South Korea's Kospi ended with rather small changes as investors were not confident to the economic outlook and waiting for a clear picture.
Most Asian markets ended lower on Friday, following the massive slump on Wall Street in previous trading session. Investors also remained cautious before a key U.S. report on the jobs market. In major indexes, Japan's Nikkei 225 Average saw a biggest fall of 3.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended down 2.4%, while Shanghai Composite fell 1.3%.
Asian shares broadly fell Tuesday following the declines on Wall Street. But Investors' hopes over the stimulus measures from China and Japan have offset some bleak sentiment led by the US market. Japan's Nikkei 225 Average ended with a modest fall of 0.7% while South Korea's Kospi Composite gained 0.7% and Taiwan's Taiex added 0.2%. Shanghai Composite fell 1.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended 2.3% lower.
