Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Monday, following the lackluster cues from Wall Street and concerns about China’s economy. Investors digested election results in Germany and New Zealand. Meanwhile, Chinese stocks remained shaky after falling towards the end of last week following the Federal Reserve’s hawkish policy stance and S&P’s downgrade of country's sovereign rating. Though, the Japanese market was advancing, as the yen weakened on news of a potential snap election in Japan as well as a plan by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to compile a nearly $18 billion stimulus package by the end of this year. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Indonesia, Shanghai, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia are trading lower.
Hang Seng dropped 290.46 points or 1.04% to 27,590.07, Taiwan Weighted dipped 97.62 points or 0.93% to 10,352.06, KOSPI Index slipped 12 points or 0.5% to 2,376.71, Jakarta Composite decreased 11.97 points or 0.2% to 5,899.74, Shanghai Composite contracted 11.86 points or 0.35% to 3,340.67, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 1.19 points or 0.07% to 1,769.85, and Straits Times was down by 4.95 points or 0.15% to 3,215.30.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was up by 72.44 points or 0.36% to 20,368.89.