Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Thursday as investors digested the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's most recent meeting and the overnight plunge in crude oil prices. The Federal Reserve plans to reduce its bloated balance sheet, but failed to provide a specific timeline to begin the process, the minutes of the June Federal Open Market Committee showed. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks edged down as ongoing tensions around North Korea continued to sap risk appetite, while the retail sector underperformed on dismal earnings from convenience stores. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are also lower. Bucking the trend, Indonesia is higher.
Nikkei 225 dropped 108.82 points or 0.54% to 19,972.81, Hang Seng declined 81.62 points or 0.32% to 25,440.35, Taiwan Weighted dipped 46.5 points or 0.45% to 10,358.29, Shanghai Composite slipped 10.01 points or 0.31% to 3,197.12, KOSPI Index decreased 2.84 points or 0.12% to 2,385.51, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI contracted 1.79 points or 0.1% to 1,766.37, and Straits Times was down by 9.44 points or 0.29% to 3,239.27.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 21.1 points or 0.36% to 5,846.15.