SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Asian stock markets were muted Tuesday even as China’s benchmark stabilized a day after plunging nearly 7 percent.
The Shanghai Composite Index wavered between gains and losses. By early afternoon, it was up 0.5 percent at 3,312.56. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.4 percent at 18,374.39 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.6 percent to 5,186.30.
South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.6 percent to 1,930.37 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.1 percent to 21,315.36. Stocks in Southeast Asia were mixed.
Global stocks started the new year on a grim note as poor manufacturing reports from China and the U.S. triggered fears about waning growth around the world. The steep fall in Chinese markets on Monday prompted authorities to halt trading by using a new “circuit-breaker” mechanism for the first time.
“Traders are not seeing clarity on the direction of growth. As we are all too familiar with, uncertainty is quite bad for the financial markets,” said Bernard Aw, strategist at IG in Singapore, in a market commentary.