Asian markets are exhibiting mixed trend in the early deals on Monday, as traders eye key central bank meetings in the US and Japan due later in the week. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is rising, tracking the positive lead from Wall Street on Friday and the release of better-than-expected Japanese merchandise trade data. Exports fell 7.4 per cent year-on-year, shrinking for a ninth straight month, while imports fell 18.8 per cent, dropping for an eighteenth consecutive month. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, Indonesia and Malaysia are higher. Bucking the trend, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are down with modest losses.
Nikkei 225 jumped 15.73 points or 0.09% to 16,642.98, Shanghai Composite added 7.12 points or 0.24% to 3,019.94, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 2.89 points or 0.17% to 1,660.31, and Jakarta Composite was up by 26.48 points or 0.51% to 5,223.73.
On the flip side, KOSPI Index declined 2.53 points or 0.13% to 2,007.81, Taiwan Weighted dipped 78.55 points or 0.87% to 8,934.59, Straits Times dropped 7.22 points or 0.25% to 2,938.13, and Hang Seng was down by 63.60 points or 0.29% to 21,900.67.