Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Wednesday tracking weak cues overnight from Wall Street. Investors are treading cautiously ahead of the upcoming European Central Bank meeting on Thursday and the important U.S. non-farm payroll data due on Friday. Japan's Nikkei share average dropped to a one-week low after weak performances in U.S. shares triggered profit-taking, while Sharp Corp dived after Standard & Poor's cut its credit rating. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, and Hong Kong are lower. Meanwhile, Singapore and Malaysia are modestly higher.
Nikkei 225 tumbled 103.87 points or 0.55% to 18,711.29, KOSPI Index dipped 2.70 points or 0.13% to 1,998.68, Hang Seng declined 79.45 points or 0.32% to 24,623.33, Shanghai Composite contracted by 5.33 points or 0.16% to 3,257.72 and Jakarta Composite was down by 15.88 points or 0.29% to 5,458.74.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI surged 1.03 points or 0.06% to 1,822.28 and Straits Times was down by 6.01 points or 0.18% to 3,428.12.