Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Wednesday, in cautious trades ahead of Federal Reserve Char Janet Yellen's Congressional testimony later in the day and as investors digested the release of a series of emails by Donald Trump Jr. that cited Russian support for his father's 2016 presidential campaign. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei share average slid as exporters stocks were sold after the dollar fell against the yen in the wake of a new controversy for US President Donald Trump's administration. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Shanghai, Singapore and Malaysia are also lower. Bucking the trend, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Hong Kong are higher.
Nikkei 225 dropped 101.69 points or 0.5% to 20,093.79, Straits Times declined 12.26 points or 0.38% to 3,206.54, Shanghai Composite slipped 6.48 points or 0.2% to 3,196.56, KOSPI Index decreased 3.37 points or 0.14% to 2,392.63, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 1.21 points or 0.07% to 1,753.82.
On the flip side, Hang Seng added 211.78 points or 0.82% to 26,089.42, Jakarta Composite increased 24.64 points or 0.43% to 5,797.97, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 15.26 points or 0.15% to 10,430.83.