Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Wednesday, amid heightened geopolitical tensions after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border the previous day, though a rise in commodity prices lifted some resource shares in the region. Meanwhile, the Japanese market declined, amid heightened geopolitical tensions. Additionally, a stronger yen weighed on exporters' stocks. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are also trading lower. Bucking the trend, Shanghai, Indonesia and Malaysia are up with modest gains.
Nikkei 225 declined 78.28 points or 0.39% to 19,846.61, Hang Seng slipped 111.27 points or 0.49% to 22,476.36, KOSPI Index dipped 2.14 points or 0.11% to 2,014.15, Straits Times decreased 26.62 points or 0.91% to 2,896.87, and Taiwan Weighted was down by 23.45 points or 0.28% to 8,376.69.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite surged 5.79 points or 0.16% to 3,621.90, Jakarta Composite added 27.85 points or 0.61% to 4,573.23, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 3.47 points or 0.21% to 1,680.50.