While stock markets in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong weakened, Seoul and Tokyo took a deep breath. China and Hong Kong have pushed down data on foreign trade of the world’s most populous countries, elsewhere optimism has been reflected after Friday’s numbers from the US labor market.
The Shanghai aggregate stock index weakened by 0.2 percent at the beginning of the new trading week, the index including the most liquid stocks lost only 0.1 percent. The smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange then weakened to a similar extent, but technological ChiNext lost more than a percent.
Chinese stocks weakened due to worse-than-expected foreign trade data. In fact, Chinese imports grew the fastest in ten years in May, mainly due to the rising prices of imported commodities. Export growth did not meet analysts’ expectations.
Tokyo and Seoul grew under the influence of Friday’s data from the US labor market. The Tokyo Nikkei index added 0.27 percent and was helped most by technology stocks, but also by shares of shipping companies. Trading and the stock market in Seoul developed similarly, with the KOSPI aggregate index adding 0.37 percent.
