Asian markets traded mixed on the last trading day of September, as Chinese markets harvest their bullish ending.
On Monday’s closing, Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) Index rallied 8.06%. Shenzhen Composite Index was up 10.67%. (Source: Google Finance)
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also traded up and climbed 2.43% on the day. Month-wise, Hang Seng was the best performing Asian market in September, rising by 17.48%, followed by Shanghai Index’s 17.39% surge.
China recently tabled several stimulus and financial packages to strengthen its Mainland and Hong Kong economy and stock markets.
Notably, the housing stimulus measures have clearly stirred up the real estate market of major cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen, as property stocks traded high and recorded double-digit gains.
According to a Reuters report, Guangzhou on Sunday became the first top-tier city to lift all restrictions on home purchase, while Shanghai and Shenzhen said they would ease curbs on housing purchases by non-local buyers and lower the minimum down payment ratio for first homebuyers to no less than 15%.
By the contrary, Nikkei fell 4.8% on the last trading day, becoming the worst-performing market among major Asian markets.
Semiconductor and chip manufacturers’ weak performance contributed to a more than 2% fall in Taiwan and South Korean stock markets.
In ASEAN region, Jakarta stock market fell nearly 1% whereas other Asian markets fluctuated slightly. Malaysia’s KLCI was down 11.18 points, or 0.67%, to 1647.28 at Monday’s closing.
