Asian Shares Decline Despite Rebound On Wall St

Bangkok: Asian shares were mostly lower on Thursday despite a rebound on Wall Street fuelled by an encouraging update on US consumer prices. US futures fell and oil prices were little changed. Chinese markets slipped as investors watched for the next steps in President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.7 per cent to 23,426.80, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.4 per cent to 3,357.02. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.5 per cent to 37,014.82. South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.1 per cent lower, to 2,573.05. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4 per cent to 7,756.10. Taiwan’s Taiex shed 0.4 per cent and the Sensex in India edged 0.1 per cent higher. Bangkok’s SET slipped 0.1 per cent. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 gained 0.5 per cent to 5,599.30 after skidding between an early gain of 1.3 per cent and a later loss. The unsettled trading came a day after the index briefly fell more than 10 per cent below its all-time high set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also pinballed sharply before ending with a loss of 0.2 per cent at 41,350.93.