Some of the trading Asian equity benchmarks are higher in the early deals on Tuesday, with investors tracking a slightly positive lead overnight from Wall Street, ahead of a rate announcement by the Reserve Bank of Australia. However, buying interest is subdued in most of the markets due to lingering concerns about a slowdown in China and on worries about the situation in Ukraine. A final reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in at 48.1 April, down from a preliminary estimate of 48.3.. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, Indonesia, Taiwan and Singapore are up marginally, while Malaysia is slightly weak.
Shanghai Composite gained 9.48 points or 0.47% to 2,036.83, Jakarta Composite rose 9.71 points or 0.20% to 4,852.21, Straits Times increased by 3.71 points or 0.11% to 3,245.31 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 42.04 points or 0.47% to 8,912.47.
On the flip side, KLSE Composite was down by 0.56 points or 0.03% to 1,859.98.
Hong Kong and South Korea markets remained shut for the trade today for Buddha's Birthday Holiday, while the Japanese market is closed for Greenery Day.