The sentiment on the Asian markets remained largely subdued so far this session, with most Asian indices swinging lower as Draghi’s no further rate cut stance overshadows the ECB stimulus-led optimism.
China stocks drive Asia lower
The Chinese equities extend the bearish streak and remain poised to book weekly loss, on the back of persisting risk-off moods combined with the strongest yuan fix so far this year. PBOC set USD/CNY rate at 6.4905 today versus 6.5127 Thursday close. The Shanghai Composite is down nearly 1%, Shenzhen’s CSI300 drops -0.85% and China A50 shares decline -0.65%.
While the Japanese benchmark index, the Nikkei 225 snapped previous rebound and now drops -0.87% to 16,705 points, following the ECB induced sharp gains in the yen against the greenback. Meanwhile, USD/JPY trades -0.07% lower at 113.13 levels.
The Australian stocks are wavering between gain and losses, with the ASX 200 index now inching up 0.15% at 5,157, mainly backed by gold mining stocks after the yellow metal jumped to its highest level since Feb 2015 at $ 1283.70.
(Market News Provided by FXstreet)