Daily Market News Asian

1. Daily Asian Equity Market Comment

   16 Dec 2013, 13:08

   Asian markets declined on Monday with benchmark indices in domestic China, Indonesia and Thailand receding the most during the day. The Chinese HSBC/Markit manufacturing purchasing manufacturers index (PMI) for December fell marginally to 50.5, below 50.8 seen in November and against consensus forecast of 50.9. Moreover, ahead of the US Fed’s meeting, Asian markets continued to trade cautious. Elsewhere, both IMF and the World Bank forecast Indonesian economy to slow down, mainly due to sluggish investment, weak external demand and high interest rates. Indian markets remained under pressure after the country’s wholesale price index rose 7.52% for November, significantly higher than 7% seen in October; raising concerns of further hike in interest rates.