InvestmentsJan 15 2016

Asian markets head lower

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Asian markets head lower

Asian stockmarkets have gone lower despite making gains in early trading, led by the Shanghai Composite index, down 3.6 per cent to 2,900.97.

The Hang Seng index was also lower in afternoon trading, having fallen 1.5 per cent to 19,520.77.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading down 0.5 per cent to 17,147.11 as oil prices continued to weigh heavily on Asian shares.

WTI crude oil is 3.5 per cent lower, trading at $30.10 a barrel, while the price of Brent crude is around $30.21 a barrel, down 2.2 per cent.

Global stockmarkets had a tumultuous start to the year, as the price of oil continued to slump.

Bernard Aw, market analyst at trading platform IG Group, said: “With the increasing inter-connectedness of global markets, movements in China’s relatively closed capital markets reverberate throughout the world. Fear dominated the first two weeks.”

He added: “The self-perpetuating distress then played in a feedback loop, putting global markets in a death grip. Recent macro data suggested that we could see more deterioration in the global economy before things get better.”