Asian markets are exhibiting mixed trend in the early deals on Thursday, tracking the negative lead from Wall Street and the slide in crude oil prices overnight. Meanwhile, investors are awaiting the release of Chinese data for July on industrial output, retail sales and fixed-asset investment due on Friday. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia are up with modest gains. Bucking the trend, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan are in negative territory. The markets in Japan are closed for the Mountain Day holiday, and will re-open on Friday.
Hang Seng jumped 43.08 points or 0.19% to 22,535.51, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 1.60 points or 0.10% to 1,674.63, Jakarta Composite gained 25.90 points or 0.48% to 5,449.85, and Shanghai Composite was up by 2.69 points or 0.09% to 3,021.44.
On the flip side, KOSPI Index dipped 4.38 points or 0.21% to 2,040.26, Straits Times dropped 12.16 points or 0.42% to 2,863.41, and Taiwan Weighted was down by 107.45 points or 1.17% to 9,092.97.