Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Thursday following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street. Investors are in a cautious mood ahead of Britain's referendum later in the day, on whether it will remain a member of the European Union. The issue has been responsible for much of the recent volatility in global markets and polls suggest the outcome is still too close to call. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks edged up in choppy trade as investors held their breath before Britain votes to decide whether to remain part of the European Union. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are in negative territory. Bucking the trend, Hong Kong and Singapore are higher.
Shanghai Composite dropped 24.00 points or 0.83% to 2,881.55, KOSPI Index dipped 9.39 points or 0.47% to 1,983.19, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI contracted 0.66 points or 0.04% to 1,637.03, Taiwan Weighted declined 43.13 points or 0.49% to 8,673.12, and Jakarta Composite was down by 14.26 points or 0.29% to 4,882.59.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 123.03 points or 0.77% to 16,188.75, Hang Seng added 41.33 points or 0.20% to 20,836.45, and Straits Times was up by 15.31 points or 0.55% to 2,801.44.