Asian Markets Struggle on Friday Following Global Selloff

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By Jacob Maslow

Asian stock markets are down on Friday following a major global selloff. The euro remains strong following the European Central Bank’s economic stimulus measure revisions not meeting investor expectations.

The ECB was expected to increase its bond buying program and further loosen monetary policies, but fell short of initial estimates. The bank did decide to cut its deposit rates into negative territories, and extend its bond buying program into 2017.

Mitsuo Shimizu, general manager of Japan Asia Securities Group, stated that the markets were hoping for Draghi to “work his magic” instead of causing shocks to occur.  Mitsuo further stated that Draghi is taking economic recovery too lightly, and that bold easing is needed to further secure the euro zone.

Following the news, the euro rose 3% against the USD and 2.6% against the yen.

The euro edged down on Friday, but still managed to maintain much of it gains from Thursday. Asian markets were down across the board, with Tokyo ending the day down 2.2%, Sydney dropping 1.5% and Shanghai losing 1.7% on the day. Hong Kong was the least affected market, which also ended the day down 0.8% at closing.

Philippines key index also fell 1.03%, while Vietnam’s VNI index fell 0.5% on the day.

London’s FTSE 100 is also down 0.56%, the DAX is down 0.07% and France’s CAC 40 is down 0.17% on the day.

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