Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Tuesday despite investors turning cautious ahead of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's speech on her government's Brexit plans later today and amid growing uncertainty over US policy ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration later this week. Japan's Nikkei share average skidded to its lowest levels since early December, undermined by a resurgent yen as well as profit-taking. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia are higher. Bucking the trend, Shanghai, and Singapore are in negative territory.
Hang Seng rose 99.27 points or 0.44% to 22,817.42, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 4.96 points or 0.30% to 1,663.80, KOSPI Index added 9.82 points or 0.48% to 2,073.99, Taiwan Weighted increased 55.78 points or 0.60% to 9,348.11, and Jakarta Composite was up by 7.70 points or 0.15% to 5,277.72.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 declined 140.49 points or 0.74% to 18,954.75, Straits Times dropped 8.67 points or 0.29% to 3,004.45, and Shanghai Composite was down by 15.52 points or 0.50% to 3,087.91.