Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Wednesday amid renewed worries about global economic growth and as commodity prices fell overnight. Meanwhile, Hong Kong stocks declined with oil stocks dropping heavily, after US stocks declined overnight as weaker-than-expected economic data from China renewed global growth concerns and a heavy fall in crude futures weighed on the energy sector. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, Shanghai, and Taiwan are also lower. Bucking the trend, Malaysia is in negative territory. The Japanese market remains closed until Friday for the Golden Week holidays.
Hang Seng dropped 207.32 points or 1.00% to 20,469.62, Straits Times slipped 44.05 points or 1.57% to 2,767.15, Taiwan Weighted dipped 98.36 points or 1.19% to 8,195.76, Shanghai Composite contracted 6.45 points or 0.22% to 2,986.19, KOSPI Index decreased 13.36 points or 0.67% to 1,973.05, and Jakarta Composite was down by 40.53 points or 0.84% to 4,771.73.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 1.64 points or 0.10% to 1,653.08.