Entertainment | September 10, 2012 | 0 comments

Asia Ends Down, China Hits March 2009 Lows

Asian shares edged down in choppy trade on Monday, encouraged by a fresh report of a potential framework for the European Central Bank's new bond buying scheme, as well as hopes of a strong easing from the Federal Reserve.

Central bank sources told Reuters on Friday that the ECB is considering setting yield band targets under the bond-buying program to shield its strategy from speculators, but the decision would not be made before its Sept. 6 policy meeting.

There is a dearth of major economic data in Asia on Monday, meaning the market's focus in the short-term will remain fixed on Europe, with longer-term focus on the annual U.S. Jackson Hole meeting of central bankers and economists later this week.

The FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index [.FTFCNBCA 6030.29 58.37 (+0.98%)], which measures markets across Asia, slipped 0.7 percent.

Seoul stocks edged down slightly as Samsung shares slumped after a U.S. court ruled against Samsung Electronics in a smartphone patent claim by Apple [AAPL 676.27 6.04 (+0.9%) ].

The slump offset news that rating agency Moody's had upgraded South Korea's credit rating to match those of China and Japan.

Samsung Electronics closed down 7.5 percent, its largest single-session drop since Oct 2008 that wiped $12 billion from its market capitalization since Friday.

Other group companies included in Samsung's smartphone manufacturing value chain were also hit, with Samsung C&T Corp, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Samsung SDI all down 1 to 6 percent.
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