Investing.com - Asians stocks were pummeled Thursday as the Japanese yen spiked and the World Bank lowered its 2013 global GDP growth forecast.
In Asian trading Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 5.27% as USD/JPY dropped below 95, setting off a rash of stop-loss orders in the process. The pair slid even after the Bank of Japan offered to buy JPY200 billion worth of bonds with maturities of 10 years and longer and JPY450 billion of bonds with maturities of five to 10 years.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 2.97% while the Shanghai Composite, open for the first time this week after being closed for a public holiday, dropped 3.26%. The World Bank pared its 2013 global GDP growth outlook to 2.2%. That is below its previous forecast of 2.4% growth and last year’s growth rate of 2.3%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 1% for a second day of losses after the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that Australian unemployment was unchanged at 5.5% last month. Analysts expected a slight increase to 5.6%. The Australian Bureau of Statistics added that employment there rose by just 1,100 jobs in May after an April increase of 50,100 jobs. Analysts expected a decrease of 10,000 jobs.
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 shed 0.67%. Earlier Thursday, RBNZ opted to keep interest rates at a record low of 2.5% while reiterating its commitment to keep rates low through the end of this year. RBNZ has been steadfast in its commitment to not alter rates this year and some traders expect the central bank will raise rates early in 2014.
In a statement, RBNZ continued to express concern about a possible housing bubble in New Zealand.
"Given this outlook, we expect to keep the OCR (official cash rate) unchanged through the end of the year," Governor Graeme Wheeler said in the release.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.17% while Singapore’s Straits Times Index gave up 1.63%. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.36% a day after the benchmark U.S. index gave up 0.84%.
In Asian trading Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 5.27% as USD/JPY dropped below 95, setting off a rash of stop-loss orders in the process. The pair slid even after the Bank of Japan offered to buy JPY200 billion worth of bonds with maturities of 10 years and longer and JPY450 billion of bonds with maturities of five to 10 years.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 2.97% while the Shanghai Composite, open for the first time this week after being closed for a public holiday, dropped 3.26%. The World Bank pared its 2013 global GDP growth outlook to 2.2%. That is below its previous forecast of 2.4% growth and last year’s growth rate of 2.3%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 1% for a second day of losses after the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that Australian unemployment was unchanged at 5.5% last month. Analysts expected a slight increase to 5.6%. The Australian Bureau of Statistics added that employment there rose by just 1,100 jobs in May after an April increase of 50,100 jobs. Analysts expected a decrease of 10,000 jobs.
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 shed 0.67%. Earlier Thursday, RBNZ opted to keep interest rates at a record low of 2.5% while reiterating its commitment to keep rates low through the end of this year. RBNZ has been steadfast in its commitment to not alter rates this year and some traders expect the central bank will raise rates early in 2014.
In a statement, RBNZ continued to express concern about a possible housing bubble in New Zealand.
"Given this outlook, we expect to keep the OCR (official cash rate) unchanged through the end of the year," Governor Graeme Wheeler said in the release.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.17% while Singapore’s Straits Times Index gave up 1.63%. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.36% a day after the benchmark U.S. index gave up 0.84%.