Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Friday after a US vote on a health care bill was delayed, raising doubts among investors over whether President Donald Trump can push through his business friendly agenda. Though, the Japanese market recovered after a weak start and is advancing, as investors shrugged off the weak cues from Wall Street. In addition, a weaker yen lifted exporters' shares. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan are edging lower. Bucking the trend, Singapore, and Malaysia are higher.
Jakarta Composite slipped 6.25 points or 0.11% to 5,557.51, KOSPI Index contracted 5.89 points or 0.27% to 2,166.83, Taiwan Weighted declined 23.34 points or 0.24% to 9,907.40, Shanghai Composite dropped 2.33 points or 0.07% to 3,246.22, and Hang Seng was down by 19.07 points or 0.08% to 24,308.63.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 added 163.60 points or 0.86% to 19,248.91, Straits Times gained 6.16 points or 0.20% to 3,133.09, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.44 points or 0.03% to 1,747.44.