The regional index is roughly unchanged on the Asian markets, also weighed down by the Shanghai Stock Exchange which suffered from data relating to the decrease in profits of Chinese industry, and by the sharp fall in Samsung shares, after the well-known ruling in the US. However, signs are emerging that the slowdown in Asian economies is greater than the sum of the parts, given the close trade links between China, Japan and the other countries in the area. Japan's third quarter GDP is now seen in decline, after the forecasts of a month or two ago showed it still growing. This makes the measures to support the economy promised by the Chinese premier more urgent and more probable. The euro weakened slightly, but remains above 1,25: the unnerving game of requests for clemency and declarations of severity on the Greece case continues, while the rift widens within the ECB between the hawks and the majority, led by Draghi.
Oil jumped due to supply issues: both Hurricane Isaac in the Gulf of Mexico (the same one that moved the Republican Convention) and the explosion at a large Venezuelan refinery brought the barrel above 97.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-27/asian-stocks-advance-on-u-s-china-stimulus-speculation.html
