Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Friday, as renewed pressure on oil prices and disappointing Chinese data kept investors on edge. The Chinese stocks headed for a third week of losses amid lingering concern about the government’s ability to manage the economic slowdown and yuan devaluation. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is lower despite the overnight gains on Wall Street and a weaker yen aided exporters' stocks. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are trading in red. Bucking the trend, Malaysia, and Indonesia are in positive territory.
Nikkei 225 dropped 52.20 points or 0.30% to 17,188.75, Hang Seng slipped 160.05 points or 0.81% to 19,657.36, Straits Times dipped 1.81 points or 0.07% to 2,642.76, Taiwan Weighted declined 2.83 points or 0.04% to 7,740.05, KOSPI Index contracted 20.81 points or 1.10% to 1,879.20, and Shanghai Composite was down by 46.18 points or 1.54% to 2,961.47.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 5.02 points or 0.31% to 1,638.46, and Jakarta Composite was up by 15.34 points or 0.34% to 4,528.52.