Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Tuesday following the negative cues from Wall Street and as oil prices eased overnight. Investors stayed cautious ahead of central-bank meetings this week in Japan and the US. The US Federal Reserve begins its two-day policy meeting later today. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will keep a close eye on the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for the next meeting in June. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is declining for a second straight day, following the weak lead overnight from Wall Street and the fall in crude oil prices. Additionally, a stronger yen weighed on exporters' shares. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Shanghai, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia are in negative territory. Bucking the trend, Taiwan is modestly higher.
Nikkei 225 slipped 185.53 points or 1.06% to 17,253.77, Hang Seng declined 173.12 points or 0.81% to 21,131.32, Straits Times contracted 18.28 points or 0.63% to 2,882.00, Shanghai Composite dipped 8.16 points or 0.28% to 2,938.52, KOSPI Index dropped 2.50 points or 0.12% to 2,012.05, Jakarta Composite decreased 73.19 points or 1.50% to 4,805.67, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 12.43 points or 0.72% to 1,702.08.
On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted was up by 11.22 points or 0.13% to 8,571.50.