Stock Asia shows mainly growth, following the main US indicators. Thus, the Chinese Shanghai Composite gained 3%, while the Shenzhen Composite lost 0.34%. The Hong Kong stock exchange indicator rose steadily by 6.81%. The indicator of the Korean KOSPI exchange added 0.88%, the indicator of the Tokyo Nikkei 225 exchange - 1.83%, and the Australian S&P/ASX 200 - 1.07%. Investors waited for the results of the US Federal Reserve meeting. The main decision that was made concerns the increase in the interest rate. In view of recent events and the unstable geopolitical situation, experts predict an increase not by 50 points, as previously assumed, but only by 25 points. Investors are also waiting for forecasts regarding economic development.
Traders were also attracted to statistics from Japan regarding the growth rate of industrial production.This indicator decreased by 0.8% in January. At the same time, experts predicted a decrease of 1.3%, similar to what it was in December 2021. The trend of a decline in the pace of industrial production has been observed for the second month. At the same time, exports of Japanese goods increased by 19.1% last month, the total amount of exports reached 7,190 trillion yen (equivalent to $ 61 billion). The January export growth rate was 9.6%. At the same time, according to experts' forecasts, volumes were expected to increase by 21%.
Imports also increased (by 34%, to 7,858 trillion yen), which led to a trade deficit of 668.26 billion yen. For comparison, during the same period last year, Japan received a trade surplus of 175.93 billion yen. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the largest increase in the value of securities was shown by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. (+7.5%), as well as Dentsu Group Inc. (+4.9%). Stock prices of Nintendo Co., Ltd. rose by 4.4%, and Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. – by 0.9%. In the largest cities of the People's Republic of China, the cost of new housing increased by 2% last month compared with a 2.3% increase in January. Nevertheless, the increase in this indicator remains at the lowest level in the last six years.
Among Chinese companies, the largest increase in the value of securities was shown by Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd., which rose by 6.6%, as well as Tencent Holdings, Ltd., which added 9.4%. Meanwhile, in South Korea, the unemployment rate decreased by 2.7% last month (from the January level of 3.6%).
The stock prices of Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd. rose by 3.1%, and Kia Corp. - by 3.3%. The value of securities of Samsung Electronics Co. has also increased. (by 0.7%) and LG Corp. (by 0.85%). The value of securities of the largest Australian companies Fortescue Metals Group, Ltd. and Rio Tinto, Ltd. increased by 1.5 and 0.15%.
