Asian Shares Meander Amid Mixed Trading On Wall St

Bangkok: Shares were mixed in Asia on Thursday after a lackluster finish on Wall Street following a report showing an uptick last month in inflation in the US. The dollar was trading at 156 Japanese yen, up from 155.49 yen, reflecting expectations that the dollar will gain against other currencies under the policies anticipated with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index edged less than 0.1 per cent higher, to 38,754.50 and the Kospi in South Korea advanced 0.5 per cent to 2,429.23. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4 per cent to 8,223.20. Chinese markets declined, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong falling 0.9 per cent to 19,649.91. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3 per cent to 3,428.37. Bangkok’s SET lost 0.2 per cent and Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.5 per cent, while the Sensex in India edged 0.1 per cent higher.

A stronger dollar tends to put strain on other economies, noted Stephen Innes of Capital Economics. The Thai baht has also weakened against the dollar since the US election, as has the Chinese yuan, or renminbi, which now stands at 7.2245 per dollar and was trading at about 7 yuan per dollar in early October.