All the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Monday with most of them suffering notable losses, amid rising worries about the global economy on the back of recent disappointing data out of China and euro zone. On the regional front, Shanghai Composite dropped on concerns that slowing global economic growth will reduce demand for materials and dampen consumer spending. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan is down sharply, while, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia are also notably lower.
Hang Seng slipped 146.82 points or 0.64% to 22,941.72, KOSPI Index contracted by 14.29 points or 0.74% to 1,926.63, Straits Times tumbled by 23.78 points or 0.74% to 3,200.09, Jakarta Composite dipped 33.76 points or 0.68% to 4,929.20, Shanghai Composite dropped 23.15 points or 0.97% to 2,351.39, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 5.91 points or 0.33% to 1,802.97 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 207.57 points or 2.31% to 8,758.87.
The Japanese market remained shut for the trade today for Health-Sports Day holiday.