Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Wednesday, tracking the negative lead overnight from Wall Street and amid concerns about the outlook for China's economy. The Japanese market declined after Wall Street retreated on earnings woes and China concerns, while Toshiba Corp jumped after announcing a new board to improve corporate governance. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia are marginally lower. Bucking the trend, Malaysia is in positive territory.
Nikkei 225 slipped 234.57 points or 1.14% to 20,319.90, Hang Seng declined 242.21 points or 1.03% to 23,232.76, KOSPI Index decreased 39.03 points or 2.00% to 1,917.23, Taiwan Weighted dropped 150.78 points or 1.84% to 8,026.44, Jakarta Composite crumbled 25.61 points or 0.57% to 4,484.87, Shanghai Composite contracted 116.76 points or 3.12% to 3,631.40 and Straits Times was down by 2.04 points or 0.07% to 3,047.61.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 4.80 points or 0.30% to 1,584.40.