Trade Surplus In China Pushed The Asia Up But Europe Is Trading Lower

Asian markets closed mixed today by building some further gains on top of yesterday. It was a volatile session in Asia during which Japanese and Korean stocks slipped however, Chinese stock indices closed in a positive territory despite the release of disappointing data. The economic data showed that the import and export sectors of the country shrank for a second straight month. China’s export number fell to 3.1% which was the worst number since October 2009.

However, despite a weak export, trade surplus for the country soared with a final reading of $27.13 billion which was much higher than May’s reading of $20.4 billion but still under the estimated forecast of $27.75 billion.

The Shanghai Index was the best performing index during the session which closed with a gain of 2.16%. The index is up nearly 0.07% for this week. The Hang Seng index was the second best performer and closed with a gain of 1.07%. However, the Nikkei index closed in a negative territory with a loss of -0.39%.

The property, financial and technology sectors were the top performing sectors during the session. China Construction Bank Corp and Bank of China both soared nearly by 1.9% and 2% respectively on the back of a bigger trade surplus number. Shares of Poly Real Estate Group Co. also gained 5.4% in Shanghai. China Coal Energy Co and Citic Securities both closed in a positive territory with a gain of 3% and 3.3% respectively.

European stock markets have turned negative by giving up their gains during the early hours of trading. Investors are cautious ahead of Fed meeting which is due later on today. The rating agency S&P has reduced the credit of Italy from BBB+ to BBB due to a weakness in its economic growth. On the other hand Latvia’s credit rating was upgraded from BBB to BBB+ by Fitch because the country has joined the euro.

The FTSE MIB Index is the worst performing index during the session which is trading down with a loss of -1.15%. The index is up nearly 1.62% for this week. The IBEX 35 index is the second worst performer and is also trading down with a loss of -1.23%. The CAC 40, FTSE 100 are also trading down with a loss of -0.74%, -0.45% 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