Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Tuesday, following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street. Investors also turned cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's speech on the US economy in New York later in the day, which might potentially shed some light on the outlook for interest rates. China’s stocks fell for a second day, paring this month’s advance, as property companies extended losses on concern new price-cooling measures will hit sales. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is modestly lower, with a stronger yen weighing on exporters' shares. In addition, shares of most companies traded without the right to receive the next dividend. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are in negative territory. Bucking the trend, South Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia are up with modest gains
Nikkei 225 dropped 56.61 points or 0.33% to 17,077.76, Hang Seng dipped 53.60 points or 0.26% to 20,292.01, Shanghai Composite slipped 33.72 points or 1.14% to 2,924.10, Taiwan Weighted decreased 85.74 points or 0.99% to 8,604.71, and Straits Times was down by 9.63 points or 0.34% to 2,820.66.
On the flip side, KOSPI Index surged 5.84 points or 0.29% to 1,988.38, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 9.98 points or 0.59% to 1,712.39, and Jakarta Composite was up by 2.33 points or 0.05% to 4,775.96.