Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Wednesday, with investors treading cautiously following a lackluster close on Wall Street overnight. A downward revision in global economic growth forecast to 2.8 percent by the World Bank also appears to be weighing on sentiment to an extent. On the regional front, the Japanese stock market is trading positive with investors indulging in some selective buying after the previous session's decline. Improvement in energy explorers and insurance companies also added to the uptrend. On the economic front, an index measuring prices for domestic corporate goods was up 0.3 percent on month in May - coming in at 106.1. The headline figure beat forecasts for an increase of 0.1 percent following the 2.8 percent gain in April. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore and Hong Kong are modestly lower. Taiwan, Malaysia and Shanghai are down marginally, while Indonesia and South Korea are trading higher.
Hang Seng slipped 91.68 points or 0.39% to 23,224.06, Straits Times decreased by 7.49 points or 0.23% to 3,286.33, Shanghai Composite declined 5.19 points or 0.25% to 2,047.35 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was marginally in red by 0.09 points to 1,876.52.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 spurted by 48.39 points or 0.32% to 15,043.19, KOSPI Index increased 1.55 points or 0.08% to 2,013.35 and Jakarta Composite was up by 1.49 points or 0.03% to 4,947.58.