Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Tuesday as investors digested the release of China's trade data for the month of July, with the export and import figures falling short of analysts' expectations. China July imports were up 11% from a year earlier and July exports were up 7.2%, both slowing from June’s pace and well short of analysts’ forecasts. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei share average slid with weak financials offsetting gains in the steel sector which rose on a strong earnings outlook. Among the other Asian markets, Taiwan, South Korea, Shanghai, and Singapore are lower. Bucking the trend, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia are in positive territory.
Nikkei 225 dropped 57.56 points or 0.29% to 19,998.33, Taiwan Weighted decreased 0.09 points or 0% to 10,579.29, KOSPI Index slipped 0.11 points to 2,398.64, Shanghai Composite declined 6.4 points or 0.2% to 3,273.05, and Straits Times was down by 9.77 points or 0.29% to 3,428.79.
On the flip side, Hang Seng added 32.34 points or 0.12% to 27,722.70, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 0.25 points or 0.01% to 1,778.16, and Jakarta Composite was up by 28.24 points or 0.49% to 5,777.53