The yen strengthened against rival currencies in Asian trade Tuesday, with a setback in the stock market prompting investors to fly to the relative safety of the Japanese currency.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 306.95 points, or 2%, to 14,804.28, after yesterday’s climb of more than 570 points.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 18.32 points, or 0.1%, to 23,088.58,
The U.S. dollar-yen trading pair showed a muted reaction to better than expected third-quarter gross domestic product data from China in the mid morning.
Moreover, Japan downgraded its overall assessment of the economy in October for the second consecutive month, citing a slowdown in production, likely adding to concerns over whether the government will go ahead with a second sales tax increase next year.
The report is the latest acknowledgment that the economy is continuing to struggle after a higher sales tax rate introduced earlier this year weakened the momentum of a recovery jump-started by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ’s pro-growth policies.
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index faded 21.32 points, or 0.9%, to 2,433.39
China posted a 7.3% year-over-year quarterly growth rate, marking growth at its slowest pace in five years amid a slumping real-estate market and weak domestic demand and industrial production. But that was slightly faster than a median 7.2% gain forecast by 15 economists in a Wall Street Journal survey.
In other markets;
The Taiex index in Taiwan dipped 8.50 points, or 0.1%, to 8,654.64
Korea’s Kospi index moved down 14.78 points, or 0.8%, to 1,915.28
In Singapore, the Straits Times STI index gained 21.69 points, or 0.7%, to 3,202.74
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 picked up 35.24 points, or 0.7%, to 5,233.12
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 5.59 points, or 0.1%, to 5,325.03
