Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Monday, amid global growth concerns on weaker-than-expected U.S. GDP growth and weak Chinese manufacturing activity. Further, Japanese share prices fell after economic data from the U.S. and China cast shadows on the global economic outlook, while shares in two printer manufacturers tumbled after their earnings disappointed investors. Among the other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai is declining 2 percent, while Hong Kong, South Korea and Indonesia are also lower. Meanwhile, Singapore and Taiwan are up with modest gains.
Nikkei 225 crumbled 97.90 points or 0.55% to 17,576.49, KOSPI Index shaded 1.08 points or 0.06% to 1,948.18, Hang Seng declined 68.55 points or 0.28% to 24,438.50, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 0.92 points or 0.05% to 1,781.26, Jakarta Composite contracted 24.94 points or 0.47% to 5,264.46 and Shanghai Composite was down by 37.28 points or 1.16% to 3,173.08.
On the flip side, Straits Times surged by 18.04 points or 0.53% to 3,409.24 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 1.87 points or 0.02% to 9,365.00.