Most of the Asian equity indices are trading lower in the early deals on Wednesday, with investors treading cautiously, looking ahead to the outcome of the US Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting that ends later in the day. Further the concerns about the unrest in Ukraine and Iraq, and a none-too-bright close on Wall Street on the back of some troubling economic data also weighed on the markets to an extent. Meanwhile, the Japanese stock market advanced as the yen held losses and investors awaited a Federal Reserve decision on monetary policy. The data showing a lower trade deficit also contributed to the uptrend. In the economic report, Japan saw a merchandise trade deficit of 908.963 billion yen in May, which beat expectations for a shortfall of 1,189.3 billion yen following the 811.7 billion yen deficit in April. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, South Korea and Indonesia are modestly lower. Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia are down marginally, while Singapore is up slightly.
Hang Seng decreased by 10.80 points or 0.05% to 23,192.79, KOSPI Index slipped 9.10 points or 0.45% to 1,992.45, Jakarta Composite declined 8.90 points or 0.18% to 4,900.62, Shanghai Composite tumbled by 10.35 points or 0.50% to 2,056.35 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 1.43 points or 0.08% to 1,873.17.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 spurted by 113.27 points or 0.76% to 15,089.24 and Straits Times was up by 4.85 points or 0.15% to 3,279.29.