Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Wednesday as investors fled risky assets and commodity prices fell amid renewed Brexit fears. Meanwhile, the British pound dropped to a fresh 31-year low against the US dollar early Wednesday. Worries about the economic and financial fallout of Britain leaving the European Union have gripped financial markets again. On Tuesday, three UK property funds halted redemptions, citing the need to raise cash before returning money to investors. Japanese stocks fell sharply tracking a drop in Wall Street amid global uncertainty, while exporters were battered by a strong yen and banks tumbled on ongoing worries about counterparty risks after shares in European banks sank. Among the other Asian markets, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are closed on Wednesday for Eid-ul-Fitr.
Nikkei 225 dipped 427.59 points or 2.73% to 15,241.74, Hang Seng contracted 391.37 points or 1.89% to 20,359.35, KOSPI Index slipped 42.78 points or 2.15% to 1,947.07, Taiwan Weighted declined 131.19 points or 1.51% to 8,584.88, and Shanghai Composite was down by 5.32 points or 0.18% to 3,001.07.