All the Asian equity indices barring Shanghai Composite are trading lower in the early deals on Friday, tracking cues from Wall Street where the major averages plunged overnight amid geopolitical concerns and on some weak economic data. However, data showing an improvement in Chinese manufacturing activity in July has pulled some of the markets in the region from their lower levels. On the regional front, Japanese stock market fell as earnings disappointed investors and a rout in global stocks spread to the world’s second-largest equities market. In economic news, manufacturing activity in Japan expanded at a slower pace in July as output contracted, results of a survey by Markit Economics showed Friday. The Markit/JMMA purchasing managers' index, or PMI, fell to 50.5 in July from 51.5 in June, indicating weakened activity though the index remained above the no-change mark of 50. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan are trading notably lower. Malaysia is down with modest losses and South Korea and Indonesia are down marginally, while Shanghai is up slightly.
Nikkei 225 tumbled by 35.10 points or 0.22% to 15,585.67, Hang Seng slipped 129.31 points or 0.52% to 24,627.54, KOSPI Index declined by 2.74 points or 0.13% to 2,073.38, Straits Times dipped 28.98 points or 0.86% to 3,345.08, Jakarta Composite contracted by 9.84 points or 0.19% to 5,088.80, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 5.68 points or 0.30% to 1,865.68 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 50.17 points or 0.54% to 9,265.68.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 1.51 points or 0.07% to 2,203.08.