Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Monday despite the lackluster cues from Wall Street on Friday. Investors also shrugged off news about a failed coup attempt in Turkey. Turkey has arrested 6,000 people after a failed coup attempt, with President Erdogan vowing to purge state bodies of the ‘virus’ that caused the revolt. The government said it is in control of the country and economy. However, China stocks dipped weighed down by property and financial shares after data showed gains in home prices were slowing. On Monday, data showed housing prices in the country rising at a slower pace. Chinese home prices in June were up 0.7% from a month earlier, compared with gains of 0.8% and 1% recorded in May and April, respectively. Among the other Asian markets, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan are up with modest gains. Bucking the trend, South Korea, and Malaysia are marginally lower. Markets in Japan were closed for Marine Day public holiday.
Hang Seng gained 34.71 points or 0.16% to 21,693.96, Straits Times jumped 3.08 points or 0.11% to 2,928.43, Jakarta Composite increased 14.09 points or 0.28% to 5,124.27, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 46.25 points or 0.52% to 8,996.10.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite dipped 3.36 points or 0.11% to 3,050.93, KOSPI Index dropped 2.03 points or 0.10% to 2,015.23, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 2.90 points or 0.17% to 1,665.50.