Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Wednesday, following the lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street. Geopolitical concerns following the deadly terror attacks in Brussels and lower crude oil prices are weighing on investor sentiment. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks declined after Tuesday's attacks in Brussels stoked appetite for the safe-haven yen, which trimmed the profit outlook for exporters as it gained on the US dollar. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, Hong Kong, South Korea, Indonesia, and Taiwan are modestly lower. Bucking the trend, Malaysia, and Singapore are marginally higher.
Nikkei 225 declined 3.96 points or 0.02% to 17,044.59, Hang Seng dropped 54.09 points or 0.26% to 20,612.66, KOSPI Index dipped 3.26 points or 0.16% to 1,993.55, Shanghai Composite slipped 9.21 points or 0.31% to 2,990.15, Jakarta Composite decreased 23.66 points or 0.49% to 4,832.44, and Taiwan Weighted was down by 32.23 points or 0.37% to 8,753.45.
On the flip side, Straits Times added 3.90 points or 0.14% to 2,884.55, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.26 points or 0.02% to 1,725.01.