Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Thursday following the weak lead from Wall Street amid uncertainty over the feasibility of the Trump administration's highly anticipated tax reform plan unveiled overnight. The plan offered no specifics on how the tax cuts would be paid for without increasing the budget deficit. Investors are also treading cautiously ahead of the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank's monetary policy decisions due later in the day. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei share average slipped giving back some of this week's gains as sentiment soured on Wall Street losses and wary investors awaited the Bank of Japan's policy decision. Hong Kong stocks traded lower after a five-day rally and as investors digested Donald Trump's plan to overhaul the US tax system.
Nikkei 225 dipped 21.33 points or 0.11% to 19,268.10, Jakarta Composite decreased 26.53 points or 0.46% to 5,700.00, Taiwan Weighted declined 20.18 points or 0.2% to 9,836.27, Shanghai Composite contracted 12.43 points or 0.4% to 3,128.42, Hang Seng slipped 3.42 points or 0.01% to 24,575.01, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 1.77 points or 0.1% to 1,767.15, KOSPI Index crumbled 0.89 points or 0.04% to 2,206.95, and Straits Times was down by 2.43 points or 0.08% to 3,171.33.