Asian markets are exhibiting mixed trend in the early deals on Monday following Wall Street's decline as uneasy investors mulled the timing of a US rate hike and looked ahead to data this week on the slowing Chinese economy. The Shanghai market, which resumed trade after a two-day holiday last week, is currently edging up amid choppy trades. Meanwhile, Japanese market bounced from seven-month lows in choppy trade, helped by gains in the Chinese market after regulators sought to calm sentiment. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea and Hong Kong are up with modest gains. Bucking the trend, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan are lower.
Nikkei 225 rose 81.96 points or 0.46% to 17,874.12, Hang Seng jumped 45.13 points or 0.22% to 20,885.74, KOSPI Index gained 1.93 points or 0.10% to 1,887.97 and Shanghai Composite was up by 27.66 points or 0.88% to 3,187.82.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite declined 70.52 points or 1.60% to 4,344.82, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 10.76 points or 0.68% to 1,578.40, Straits Times decreased 13.06 points or 0.46% to 2,850.75 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 14.29 points or 0.18% to 7,986.31.