Europe On Track To Log Gain For Fifth Consecutive Day, Asia Closed Mixed

Asian markets closed mixed on the last trading day of the week. Investors were concerned during the trading due to the Chinese finance ministers’ comment when he said that the country may fall short of expectation on its GDP target. He confirmed that the country’s GDP growth may fall near the 7% level which is less than the forecast reading of 7.5%.

However, he is confident that China will not face hard landing and slow growth of the country’s GDP is among one of their policies because they are trying to step away from their dependence on exports. The final figures will be released on Monday.

The Shanghai Index was the worst performing index during the session which closed with a loss of 1.64%. The index is up nearly 1.64% for this week. The Hang Seng index was the second worst performer and closed with a loss of 0.75%. However, the Nikkei index did manage to turnaround and closed in a positive territory with a mild gain of 0.23%.

Resource sector and commodities soared during the session on the expense of dollar. Inpex Corp and Woodside Petroleum both increased during the session with a gain of 1.5% and 1.6% respectively. Financial sector was also one of the best performing sector during the session and shares of Haitong Securities Co. and China Minsheng Banking group both gained nearly 9.85% and 9.88% respectively.

European stock markets are trading sharply higher during the early hours of trading. The European indices are on track to log fifth consecutive day of gain by tracking a positive momentum from US markets. However, the finance minister in Germany does not have much confidence that Europe’s plan to oversee the banking operation will work and called this idea “built on sand”, Bloomberg reported.

The DAX Index is the best performing index during the session which is trading up with a gain of 0.77%. The index is up nearly 2.87% for this week. The FTSE 100 index is the second best performer and is also trading up with a gain of 0.38%. However, the IBEX 35 and the FTSE MIB are trading lower with a loss of -1.02%, 0.19% respectively.

DISCLOSURE & DISCLAIMER: The above is for informational purposes only and NOT to be construed as specific trading advice. responsibility for trade decisions is solely with the reader.

by Naeem Aslam