Most of the Asian markets are trading lower in the early deals on Tuesday as investors shrugging off positive cues from the U.S. and European markets are treading cautiously amid concerns over the situation in Ukraine. Corporate earnings reports are providing some direction to the markets in the region. The Japanese stock market declined, with investors taking some profits after recent strong upmove. A stronger yen too contributed to the market's weakness. Moreover, South Korea's KOSPI was up as investors bought up shipbuilder stocks. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region South Korea and Taiwan are notably higher. while Shanghai, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore are slightly weak.
Nikkei 225 crumbled by 78.64 points or 0.50% to 15,534.61, Shanghai Composite tumbled by 9.76 points or 0.44% to 2,219.52, Jakarta Composite dropped by 23.19 points or 0.45% to 5,161.76. Hang Seng slipped 31.95 points or 0.13% to 25,134.96, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 0.35 points or 0.02% to 1,861.96 and Straits Times was down 3.88 points or 0.12% to 3,326.40.
On the flip side, KOSPI Index rose by 8.78 points or 0.43% to 2,069.67, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 5.32 points or 5.32% to 9,395.94.