2014.08.2904:10:58UTC+00Asian stocks poised for monthly decline

Asian stocks is set to head for its first monthly decline since the month of April as stocks continue to inch down on poor performance from material and consumer shares and the existing concern for geopolitical situations in various parts of the world.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index shed 0.2% to 147.97 in Hong Kong. This would make for a total of 0.4% decline for this week and a total of 0.6% slump for the month of August. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average and South Korea’s KOSPI Index declined by 0.23% or 35.27 points to 15,424.59 and 0.35% or 7.22 points to 2,068.54 respectively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and the CNBC 100 ASIA IDX are also down, losing 0.12% or 30.52 points to 24,707.45 and 0.19% or 14.36 points to 7,474.70 respectively. However, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 and China’s Shanghai Composite Index managed to pare further losses by gaining 0.03% or 1.49 points to 5,625.90 and 0.90% or 19.03 points to 2,214.84 respectively.

Hong Kong’s CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. paced the decrease in its market along with China’s Aluminum Corp. Ltd. which declined by 4.1%. Sydney’s National Australia Bank Ltd. added 1.2%. In Japan, Pioneer Corp. declined and Okuma Corp. both lost 2.7% respectively.