Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Wednesday, amid concerns about an interest rate hike in the U.S. and on renewed worries over Greece's debt talks. Investors are also treading cautiously ahead of the release of China's industrial production data later in the day. Further, Japan's Nikkei share average rose, as better-than-expected machinery orders helped offset Wall Street losses. Among the other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are in negative territory. Meanwhile, Shanghai and Taiwan are up with modest gains.
Hang Seng declined 49.59 points or 0.21% to 23,847.39, KOSPI Index dipped 4.57 points or 0.23% to 1,988.25 FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped 8.10 points or 0.45% to 1,781.63, Straits Times tumbled 17.53 points or 0.52% to 3,380.73 and Jakarta Composite was down by 47.36 points or 0.87% to 5,415.57.
On the flip side Nikkei 225 rose 154.45 points or 0.83% to 18,819.56, Taiwan Weighted added 16.17 points or 0.16% to 9,551.56 and Shanghai Composite was up by 9.83 points or 0.30% to 3,295.90.