Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Monday after a Greek vote against austerity measures endangered its future in the single currency and raised the risk of a full-blown crisis in the euro zone. Meanwhile, Shanghai bucked the trend and is sharply higher. The Japanese market traded lower, with financial stocks and exporters leading the declines, after Greeks overwhelmingly rejected austerity measures demanded in return for bailout money, throwing the euro zone into turmoil. Among the other markets in the Asian region, South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are also lower.
Nikkei 225 declined 455.52 points or 2.22% to 20,084.27, KOSPI Index dipped 36.02 points or 1.71% to 2,068.39, Hang Seng slipped 829.36 points or 3.18% to 25,234.75, Taiwan Weighted contracted 76.53 points or 0.82% to 9,281.70, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 23.29 points or 1.34% to 1,710.95, Straits Times crumbled 25.68 points or 0.77% to 3,317.05 and Jakarta Composite was down by 53.03 points or 1.06% to 4,929.88.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 79.46 points or 2.16 % to 3,766.37.