Most Asian markets ended lower yesterday on fears of a possible downgrade of Greek debt. Japan's Nikkei lost 1.0 per cent while a rising yen weighed on exporters. Taiwan market fell 1.4 per cent and South Korean's Kospi declined 1.6 per cent. But China's Shanghai Composite rose 1.3 per cent, as investors were expecting an annual parliament session in March may reaffirm China's relatively loose monetary policy.
Asian shares Monday are expected to be buoyed after Wall Street delivered its best week of the year. China's Shanghai bourse will open today after a long holiday for the Lunar New Year. The Hong Kong and Tokyo stocks lost more than 2 percent Friday on U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to raise its discount rate. The discount rate hike also sent commodities prices lower and hit resources shares in the region.
Asian shares declined in thin trade on Monday. Tokyo stocks fell on the pre-weekend fall on Wall Street and monetary tightening in China, despite a slightly better than expected gross domestic product figure in fourth quarter was released yesterday. Australian stocks Monday was also lower, weighed down by some disappointing earnings reports. There is no lead from Wall Street and major Asian markets including Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore are still in holiday break on Tuesday.
Australian sharemarket closed flat in thin trade on Monday ahead of the release of more earnings reports. But some investors started to return to the market after the massive drops the past four weeks. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index climbed 7.3 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 4521.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 6.3 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 4538.8.
Asian equity markets Friday experienced heavy losses after Wall Street's tumble and concerns over European sovereign debt. Japan's Nikkei index fell 2.9%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 3.3%, its first finish below 20000 since September. South Korea's Kospi lost 3% to 1567.12, Taiwan's Taiex sank 4.3% and China's Shanghai Composite gave up 1.9%.
Wall Street stocks posted gains on Wednesday. The market pared early losses in late trade as Federal Reserve kept its stimulative monetary policy unchanged and said it would hold interest rate at "exceptionally low" level for an extended period to support the economic recovery.
US shares tumbled sharply for a third straight day on Friday as continued worries about the White House's plan to limit bank risk-taking. Google's disappointing earnings also hit the tech stocks. For the week, the Dow dropped 4.1 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 3.9 per cent and the Nasdaq tumbled 3.6 per cent.
