Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Wednesday following the weak cues overnight from Wall Street after hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials, partially offset by higher crude oil prices. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index fell after authorities approved the launch of a long-awaited scheme to allow stock trading between Shenzhen and Hong Kong and lifted quota limits for the existing Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect. The Japanese market is advancing despite the weak lead overnight from Wall Street, with a slightly weaker yen lifting exporters' shares. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower. Bucking the trend, Hong Kong is higher. The markets in Indonesia are closed for Independence Day.
Shanghai Composite dipped 5.95 points or 0.19% to 3,104.09, Taiwan Weighted dropped 16.75 points or 0.18% to 9,093.61, Straits Times slipped 7.13 points or 0.25% to 2,851.67, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 5.26 points or 0.31% to 1,694.63, and KOSPI Index was down by 14.22 points or 0.69% to 2,033.54.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 added 69.41 points or 0.42% to 16,665.92, and Hang Seng was up by 52.67 points or 0.23% to 22,963.51.