Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Monday with investors indulging in some mild selling amid lingering concerns about the situation in Ukraine. A lack of fresh triggers following a holiday on Wall Street last Friday for Independence Day also contributed to the downside. The Japanese stock market pared early gains and was down slightly by the end of the morning session as a weaker dollar lifted stocks in early trading, but investors chose to trim down positions subsequently, looking for fresh triggers. In the economy news, preliminary May numbers for Japan's leading and coincident indexes, are due today. The leading index is expected to show a score of 105.9, down from 106.5 in April - while the coincident is called at 111.0, easing from 111.1 a month earlier. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, South Korea, Shanghai and Taiwan are trading lower, while Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are trading higher.
Nikkei 225 tumbled by 1.36 points or 0.01% to 15,435.77, Hang Seng declined 68.86 points or 0.29% to 23,477.50, KOSPI Index slipped by 10.28 points or 0.51% to 1,999.38, Shanghai Composite dropped 6.96 points or 0.34% to 2,052.42 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 13.26 points or 0.14% to 9,496.79.
On the flip side, Straits Times gained 2.85 points or 0.09% to 3,275.10, Jakarta Composite increased by 41.97 points or 0.86% to 4,947.79 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 6.49 points or 0.34% to 1,891.40.