Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Friday, following the lackluster cues from Wall Street and as crude oil prices once again slipped in Asian trades after rising to a fresh six-month higher overnight. In addition, softness in commodity prices weighed on resources stocks. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks slumped as Apple's suppliers underperformed on persistent worries about slowing demand for iPhones. Among the other Asian markets, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia are also lower. Bucking the trend, Shanghai is in positive territory.
Nikkei 225 slipped 185.27 points or 1.11% to 16,461.07, Hang Seng dropped 189.06 points or 0.95% to 19,726.40, KOSPI Index declined 12.42 points or 0.63% to 1,965.07, Taiwan Weighted decreased 80.92 points or 1.00% to 8,027.13, Straits Times contracted 21.35 points or 0.78% to 2,724.04, Jakarta Composite dipped 28.35 points or 0.59% to 4,774.97, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 22.45 points or 1.36% to 1,626.53.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 1.15 points or 0.04% to 2,837.01.