Asian markets are exhibiting mixed trend in the early deals on Wednesday as data released overnight showed an unexpected contraction in US manufacturing activity. The US manufacturing sector contracted last month to its weakest level since June 2009, while construction spending rose in October to the highest level since December 2007. The mixed data prompted markets to question whether the US economy was ready for an interest rate hike that could come as early as this month. Besides, investors also turned cautious ahead of key events later in the week, including the European Central Bank's monetary policy decision on Thursday and the US monthly jobs report due on Friday. Among the Asian markets, Singapore, Taiwan, Shanghai, and Hong Kong are up with modest gains. Meanwhile, Nikkei, South Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia are marginally lower.
Nikkei 225 dipped 52.68 points or 0.26% to 19,959.72, KOSPI Index decreased 8.15 points or 0.40% to 2,015.78, Jakarta Composite crumbled 2.04 points or 0.04% to 4,555.63, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 1.08 points or 0.06% to 1,681.29.
On the flip side, Straits Times added 21.01 points or 0.73% to 2,891.27, Hang Seng jumped 60.20 points or 0.27% to 22,441.55, Taiwan Weighted increased 2.69 points or 0.03% to 8,465.99, and Shanghai Composite was up by 12.01 points or 0.35% to 3,468.32.