Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Thursday, despite the positive lead overnight from Wall Street and European markets, while Chinese shares surged as the mainland markets resumed trade after a week-long holiday. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is trading lower, after six straight days of gains, as weak machinery orders data stoked uncertainty about the economic outlook. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore are down with modest losses.
Nikkei 225 declined 74.16 points or 0.40% to 18,248.82, Hang Seng dropped 155.13 points or 0.69% to 22,360.63, KOSPI Index contracted 4.08 points or 0.20% to 2,001.76, Taiwan Weighted slipped 32.07 points or 0.38% to 8,463.16 and Straits Times was down by 10.42 points or 0.35% to 2,951.39.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 3.46 points or 0.20% to 1,692.71, Jakarta Composite increased 27.16 points or 0.61% to 4,514.29 and Shanghai Composite was up by 116.11 points or 3.80% to 3,168.89.