Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Wednesday, following the weak lead overnight from Wall Street as upbeat US economic data overnight spurred concerns of an interest rate hike sooner rather than later. The Japanese market is extending its gains into a ninth day, but gains were limited as US shares languished after upbeat US data fed fears that a rate hike may come earlier than expected. Among the other markets in the Asian region, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia are also in negative territory. Meanwhile, Japan, Shanghai and Taiwan are marginally higher.
Jakarta Composite slipped 32.85 points or 0.62% to 5,288.05, KOSPI Index declined 33.48 points or 1.56% to 2,110.02, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 12.52 points or 0.71% to 1,751.55, Straits Times crumbled 38.05 points or 1.10% to 3,421.93 and Hang Seng was down by 162.18 points or 0.57% to 28,087.68.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 increased 42.27 points or 0.21% to 20,479.75, Taiwan Weighted gained 32.68 points or 0.34% to 9,702.09 and Shanghai Composite was up by 7.89 points or 0.16% to 4,918.79.