Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Wednesday, after US earnings fell short of expectations and investors began to focus on next week's Federal Reserve meeting. The Japanese market opened lower, pulling back from a nearly one-month closing high in the previous session, tracking the weak cues overnight from Wall Street and a stronger yen. Tech and banking stocks are among the major losers.
Nikkei 225 contracted 196.24 points or 0.94 % to 20,645.73, Hang Seng crumbled 285.33 points or 1.12 % to 25,251.10, Jakarta Composite dipped 0.91 points or 0.02 % to 4,868.94, Shanghai Composite decreased 16.89 points or 0.42 % to 4,000.79, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 7.36 points or 0.42% to 1,728.83, Straits Times slipped 1.01 points or 0.03 % to 3,370.40, KOSPI Index dropped 21.04 points or 1.01 % to 2,062.58 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 81.30 points or 0.90 % to 8,924.66.