Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Thursday with the outlook for interest rates, growing uncertainty over next week's US presidential election and the fall in crude oil prices weighing on investor sentiment. Shares fell again in Hong Kong extending the previous day's sharp sell-off as traders grow increasingly worried about the outcome of next week's US presidential election. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan are in negative territory. Shanghai and South Korea are edging higher. The markets in Japan are closed for the Culture Day holiday.
Hang Seng dipped 28.29 points or 0.12% to 22,782.21, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped 4.67 points or 0.28% to 1,654.93, Taiwan Weighted decreased 38.22 points or 0.42% to 9,100.82, Straits Times declined 9.92 points or 0.35% to 2,797.22 and Jakarta Composite was down by 21.23 points or 0.39% to 5,384.23.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite added 17.79 points or 0.57% to 3,120.52 and KOSPI Index was up by 5.77 points or 0.29% to 1,984.71.