Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Thursday due to disappointment over weak earnings in Japan and worries about the health of US consumer spending. Chinese stocks edged lower, led by energy and health-care companies, as investors awaited the release of economic data. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is notably lower following the weak cues from Wall Street. In addition, a stronger yen and weak corporate earnings results weighed on investor sentiment. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan are all lower. Bucking the trend, Indonesia and Malaysia are up with modest gains.
Nikkei 225 dropped 33.66 points or 0.20% to 16,545.35, KOSPI Index contracted 2.72 points or 0.14% to 1,977.38, Taiwan Weighted slipped 4.78 points or 0.06% to 8,130.78, Straits Times declined 1.36 points or 0.05% to 2,731.51, Shanghai Composite dipped 8.12 points or 0.29% to 2,828.92 and Hang Seng was down by 86.28 points or 0.43% to 19,969.01.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite added 17.97 points or 0.37% to 4,817.93, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.33 points or 0.02% to 1,644.91.