Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Monday despite a positive lead from Wall Street where stocks ended higher last Friday following an upward revision in second-quarter US GDP growth. News from Hong Kong about clashes between police and pro-democracy protesters also contributed to the downside. On the regional front, the Japanese stock market opened on a firm note, with a positive lead from Wall Street and a stronger greenback triggering some hectic buying at several counters. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong is trading sharply lower and Indonesia is down with notable losses. Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan are down marginally. Malaysia and Shanghai are higher.
Hang Seng slipped by 459.77 points or 1.94% to 23,218.64, KOSPI Index declined by 1.47 points or 0.07% to 2,030.17, Straits Times dipped 4.78 points or 0.15% to 3,287.43, Jakarta Composite tumbled by 13.70 points or 0.27% to 5,118.86 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 15.99 points or 0.18% to 8,973.83.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 spurted by 40.61 points or 0.25% to 16,270.47, Shanghai Composite increased 9.70 points or 0.41% to 2,357.42 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 2.56 points or 0.14% to 1,843.06.