Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Monday following a slide by US technology shares and the dollar rose ahead of this week's US Federal Reserve policy meeting, with markets hoping for more guidance on the central bank's interest rate path. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is declining following the mixed cues from Wall Street, the unexpected outcome of the UK elections and a stronger yen. Investors are also digesting weaker-than-expected local economic data. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan are also lower. Bucking the trend, Singapore, and Indonesia are higher. The markets in Malaysia are closed for Nuzul Al'Quran.
Nikkei 225 dropped 116.7 points or 0.58% to 19,896.56, Hang Seng decreased 317.74 points or 1.22% to 25,712.55, Taiwan Weighted declined 76.7 points or 0.75% to 10,122.95, KOSPI Index dipped 26.84 points or 1.13% to 2,354.85, and Shanghai Composite was down by 14.1 points or 0.45% to 3,144.30
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 26.06 points or 0.46% to 5,701.58, and Straits Times was up by 3.52 points or 0.11% to 3,257.71.