Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Friday after North Korea fired off another missile over Japan, ratcheting up geopolitical tensions and denting investors’ sentiments. Though, Japan’s Nikkei share average inched up with the market apparently unruffled by North Korea’s ballistic missile launch, with the dollar remaining relatively stable against the yen despite Pyongyang’s latest challenge. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia are also lower. Bucking the trend, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are in positive territory.
Shanghai Composite declined 10.79 points or 0.32% to 3,360.63, Straits Times dropped 8.13 points or 0.25% to 3,212.82, Jakarta Composite dipped 8.34 points or 0.14% to 5,843.66, KOSPI Index slipped 3.41 points or 0.14% to 2,374.25, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 3.07 points or 0.17% to 1,778.30.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 added 91.51 points or 0.46% to 19,898.95, Taiwan Weighted gained 0.78 points or 0.01% to 10,554.35, and Hang Seng was up by 84.22 points or 0.3% to 27,861.42.