Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Monday after US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said in her speech on Friday that the case for another interest rate hike has strengthened. The Federal Open Market Committee ‘continues to anticipate that gradual increases in the federal funds rate will be appropriate over time to achieve and sustain employment and inflation near our statutory objectives,’ Yellen said in a symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. However, Japanese stocks surged to 1-1/2-week highs as the yen weakened after US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signal of interest rate hike, lifting insurers and exporters. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia Malaysia and Taiwan are in negative territory. Bucking the trend, Shanghai too is higher.
Hang Seng dropped 79.59 points or 0.35% to 22,829.95, Taiwan Weighted dipped 49.41 points or 0.54% to 9,082.31, Straits Times declined 20.34 points or 0.71% to 2,837.31, KOSPI Index decreased 3.95 points or 0.19% to 2,033.55, Jakarta Composite contracted 67.99 points or 1.25% to 5,370.84, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 3.06 points or 0.18% to 1,680.03.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 gained 395.06 points or 2.41% to 16,755.77, and Shanghai Composite was up by 1.48 points or 0.05% to 3,071.79.