Asian markets are trading mostly in the red terrain in early deals on Wednesday tracking cues from Wall Street where the major averages posted notable losses overnight on profit taking. Moreover, worries about a Chinese economic slowdown and speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve might hike interest rates sometime sooner than expected earlier are also contributing to the weakness in the markets. Some disappointing economic data from the region are also weighing on the markets. The Japanese stock market declined, hurt by the overnight weak close on Wall Street and a report showing a smaller than expected increase in core machine orders in July. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Taiwan are notably lower. Shanghai, Singapore and Malaysia are down with modest losses. The South Korean market is closed for a holiday.
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 4.58 points or 0.24% to 1,869.54, Taiwan Weighted slipped by 109.70 points or 109.70% to 9,325.07, Straits Times contracted by 7.78 points or 0.23% to 3,335.18, Hang Seng decreased by 453.82 points or 1.80% to 24,736.63, Nikkei 225 crumbled by 9.52 points or 0.06% to 15,739.63, Jakarta Composite dipped by 42.64 points or 0.82% to 5,154.48 and Shanghai Composite was down by 17.97 points or 0.77% to 2,308.56.