Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Tuesday, supported by record highs on Wall Street but hobbled by uncertainty as traders awaited a Federal Reserve meeting for clues on US monetary policy. Though, Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to 2-1/2 month highs as investor confidence was boosted by a weakening yen and strong US shares, lifting cyclical stocks such as exporters and financial companies. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are lower.
Hang Seng declined 17.21 points or 0.06% to 28,142.56, Shanghai Composite dipped 9.82 points or 0.29% to 3,353.04, KOSPI Index slipped 3.11 points or 0.13% to 2,415.10, Jakarta Composite dropped 3.11 points or 0.05% to 5,881.50, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI contracted 2.57 points or 0.14% to 1,781.09, Straits Times decreased 10.09 points or 0.31% to 3,231.76, and Taiwan Weighted was down by 36.85 points or 0.35% to 10,594.72.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was up by 301.86 points or 1.52% to 20,211.36.