Asian markets are exhibiting mixed trend in the early deals on Thursday amid cautious trades after US President Donald Trump's threat to shut down the government if he does not secure funds for building the Mexico border wall. Investors also turned their attention to the global central banking conference, which begins in Jackson Hole later in the day. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei share average slipped towards a 3-1/2-month low, dragged down by Wall Street losses, while steel makers fell after reports that Toyota Motor Corp was looking to cut the price of steel supplied to component makers. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are also higher. Bucking the trend, Shanghai, Indonesia and Malaysia are lower.
Hang Seng rose 166.06 points or 0.61% to 27,567.73, Straits Times added 12.71 points or 0.39% to 3,272.76, Taiwan Weighted gained 65.77 points or 0.63% to 10,472.58, and KOSPI Index was up by 11.74 points or 0.5% to 2,378.14.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 declined 62.76 points or 0.32% to 19,371.88, Jakarta Composite dropped 16.77 points or 0.28% to 5,897.25, Shanghai Composite slipped 1.28 points or 0.04% to 3,286.42, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.78 points or 0.04% to 1,772.16.