AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Summary
- APAC markets are mixed with the Japanese and South Korean markets trading in the red.
- China factory gate inflation surges to highest in 12-years.
- Philippine markets are the best performers in the region.
The equity markets in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region were a mixed bag on Wednesday as investors tried to digest the unsettling spike in inflation in China – the region’s largest economy.
The Mainland Chinese stocks were mixed with the Shanghai Composite up 18 basis points (bps), while the Shenzhen component was down 34 basis points. In the Chinese autonomous region of Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was trading near flatline – down just 2 bps at the time of filing this copy.
The China inflation numbers, released by National Bureau of Statistics today, seems to have unsettled both the investors and experts. China clocked a factory gate inflation, or producers price index (PPI) inflation of 9% -- the highest level seen in more than 12 years since 2008. This is also 50 bps above the market estimates. On the other hand, the country’s retail inflation rose by 1.6%.
In Japan, the Nikkei225 was down 28 bps, while South Korean KOPSI was down 22 bps.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia were trading flat, with the ASX200 8 bps down.
The worst performer in the region was Vietnam’s HNX30 – down 2.99%. The index has been a global leader in giving returns to investors in the past three years.
The Philippine markets were the best performers in the region – with the PSEi Composite up 71 bps.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley Capital International’s APAC index was 15 bps down at the time of filing this copy.
