Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Monday, due to weak cues from Wall Street and lower crude oil prices weighing on sentiment. Further, the Japanese stocks began 2015 on a down note on Monday as investors showed little taste for risk given weak prospects for global growth, but the mood towards Japan's outlook remained upbeat after last year's gains. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan are trading marginally lower. Shanghai is up 1 percent.
Jakarta Composite declined by 28.08 points or 0.54% to 5,214.69, Nikkei 225 contracted 279.07 points or 1.57% to 17,450.77, KOSPI Index decreased by 12.97 points or 0.67% to 1,913.47, Straits Times slipped 32.90 points or 1.01% to 3,336.60, Taiwan Weighted tumbled 48.36 points or 0.52% to 9,258.91 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 12.88 points or 0.73% to 1,739.89.
On the flip side, Hang Seng increased 118.22 points or 0.50% to 23,976.04 and Shanghai Composite was up by 78.14 points or 2.42% to 3,312.82.