Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Monday amid worries about Britain's exit from the European Union. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei share average slipped as investors locked in gains, bracing for more detail on the Trump Administration's trade policies, with steelmakers and shippers leading the losses. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan are in negative territory. Bucking the trend, Indonesia is higher.
Nikkei 225 slipped 168.08 points or 0.87% to 19,119.20, KOSPI Index dropped 8.37 points or 0.40% to 2,068.42, Taiwan Weighted crumbled 84.37 points or 0.90% to 9,294.46, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI contracted 5.72 points or 0.34% to 1,666.78, Straits Times dipped 20.24 points or 0.67% to 3,004.83, Shanghai Composite decreased 43.61 points or 1.40% to 3,069.15 and Hang Seng was down by 236.48 points or 1.03% to 22,700.90.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 7.35 points or 0.14% to 5,280.33.