Most of the Asian equity indices are trading lower in the early deals on Friday. The Japanese stock market on the other hand strengthened with the overnight gains on Wall Street and the European Central Bank's decision on fresh stimulus too aided sentiments. However, with cautious investors choosing to wait for the crucial US jobs data due later in the day, the market pared its early gains. On the economic front, Japan will release preliminary April numbers for its leading and coincident indexes. The leading index is expected to show a score of 106.2, down from 107.1 in March. The coincident is called at 110.8, down from 114.5 in the previous month. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia are up in negative territory, while Indonesia and Singapore are trading higher.
Shanghai Composite dropped 12.86 points or 0.63% to 2,028.02, Hang Seng declined by 60.64 points or 0.26% to 23,049.02, KLSE Composite slipped 2.58 points or 0.14% to 1,866.42, Seoul Composite contracted 13.08 points or 0.65% to 1,995.48 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 5.44 points or 0.06% to 9,135.28.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite strengthened 22.17 points or 0.45% to 4,957.74, Nikkei 225 soared 304.03 points or 2.17% to 14,346.20 and Straits Times was up by 15.18 points or 0.46% to 3,294.82.
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