All the Asian equity indices barring Shanghai Composite are trading lower in the early deals on Thursday, tracking cues from Wall Street where stocks plunged overnight amid persisting worries about the global economy and on some weak US data, including a report showing a bigger than expected drop in retail sales. On the regional front, as the overnight sell-off on Wall Street and European markets prompted investors to indulge in some heavy selling across the board. The yen's rise against the US dollar also contributed to the downward trend in the Japanese market. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia are all notably lower, while Shanghai is up marginally.
Nikkei 225 tumbled by 279.28 points or 1.85% to 14,794.24, Hang Seng slipped 131.67 points or 0.57% to 23,008.38, KOSPI Index declined 6.14 points or 0.32% to 1,919.77, Straits Times decreased by 35.16 points or 1.10% to 3,163.56, Jakarta Composite dipped 34.22 points or 0.69% to 4,928.72, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI contracted by 9.80 points or 0.55% to 1,777.04 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 6.44 points or 0.07% to 8,649.07.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 13.35 points or 0.56% to 2,387.02.