Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Thursday due to the overnight weak close on Wall Street and as concerns about the health of the global economy hurt sentiment. Sliding oil prices are weighing as well. Japanese market is set for a third day of losses after hitting a more than three-week low after oil prices slumped, while a strong yen and poor machinery data dampened risk taking. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Shanghai are notably lower. Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia are down marginally.
Nikkei 225 tumbled by 163.64 points or 0.94% to 17,248.94, Hang Seng declined by 289.91 points or 1.23% to 23,234.61, KOSPI Index crumbled 15.23 points or 0.78% to 1,930.33, Jakarta Composite decreased by 10.23 points or 0.20% to 5,155.18, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 11.24 points or 0.64% to 1,754.28, Straits Times slipped 7.18 points or 0.22% to 3,318.63, Taiwan Weighted shaded by 11.44 points or 0.13% to 9,020.72 and Shanghai Composite was down by 18.31 points or 0.62 % to 2,921.70.