Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Tuesday, as China's trade data showed a larger-than-expected slide in imports, deepening concerns about slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. Meanwhile, the overnight tumble in crude oil prices weighed on resource stocks. The Japanese market, which was closed on Monday for a public holiday, is lower on profit taking following the steep gains made last week. In addition, a stronger yen dragged down exporters' stocks. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are down with modest losses. Bucking the trend, Malaysia is marginally higher.
Nikkei 225 dropped 177.58 points or 0.96% to 18,261.09, Hang Seng dipped 111.10 points or 0.49% to 22,619.83, KOSPI Index declined 10.34 points or 0.51% to 2,011.29, Taiwan Weighted contracted 43.20 points or 0.50% to 8,530.52, Straits Times slipped 22.60 points or 0.75% to 3,009.51, Jakarta Composite decreased 118.79 points or 2.57% to 4,511.91 and Shanghai Composite was down by 10.00 points or 0.30% to 3,277.66.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.95 points or 0.06% to 1,710.81.