Asian markets down ahead of Cypriot banks re-opening and capital controls

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Except for Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines, the largest bourses in Asia took a hit on Thursday. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite (-2.85%), Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (-1.05%), Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average (-1.26%) and South Korea’s Kospi (-0.22%) fell ahead of the scheduled the re-opening of Cypriot banks (and the imposition of capital controls) and low chances of a government being formed in Italy today.

Futures for the German DAX 30 (-0.01%) and the German DAX 30 (-0.03%) are signaling a slightly lower opening ahead of news coming from Cyprus and Italy, as well as unemployment data in Germany, EMU money supply and Italian business confidence.