Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Monday after China reported weak factory output and as investors looked ahead to a US Federal Reserve decision this week on whether to raise interest rates. Meanwhile, Japanese stock market is trading lower after soft economic data released by China over the weekend dampened investor sentiment. Investors are also treading cautiously as the Bank of Japan's kick started its two-day policy board meeting today. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Shanghai, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan are down with marginal losses. Bucking the trend, Malaysia and Indonesia are in positive territory.
Nikkei 225 dropped 288.62 points or 1.58% to 17,975.60, Hang Seng decreased 22.15 points or 0.10% to 21,482.22, Straits Times dipped 12.29 points or 0.43% to 2,875.74, Shanghai Composite declined 102.53 points or 3.20% to 3,097.71, Taiwan Weighted slipped 41.21 points or 0.50% to 8,264.61 and KOSPI Index was down by 18.59 points or 0.96% to 1,922.78.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI surged 7.56 points or 0.47% to 1,611.16 and Jakarta Composite was up by 11.62 points or 0.27% to 4,372.09.