Most of the Asian markets are trading lower in the early deal on Thursday as investors treading cautiously after Wall Street ended on a subdued note overnight. Markets are looking ahead to the European Central Bank's monetary policy decision due later in the day and the investors are also looking for news out of Ukraine and the Middle East where conflicts are still on. Moreover, the Japanese stock market declined, with investors indulging in some profit taking after recent strong gains. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Malaysia and Taiwan are all modestly lower, while South Korea are up in positive territory with modest gains.
Nikkei 225 dropped by 38.77 points or 0.25% to 15,689.58, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 1.29 points or 0.07% to 1,863.58, Taiwan Weighted slipped by 33.20 points or 0.35% to 9,416.90, Straits Times was decreased 9.03 points or 0.27% to 3,339.74 and Hang Seng was down by 86.64 points or 0.34% to 25,231.3.
On the flip side Jakarta Composite increased by 6.54 points or 0.13% to 5,230.68, KOSPI Index gained by 4.92 points or 0.24% to 2,056.12,and Shanghai Composite was up by 5.88 points or 0.26% to 2,294.51.