Asian equity benchmarks are exhibiting mixed trend in the early deals on Monday, as traders turned cautious amid Friday's negative cues from Wall Street after the news that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the investigation of Russian meddling in last year's election. Japanese market was trading in red though pared some losses as US Senate Republicans narrowly passed a bill to overhaul the tax system. Among the other Asian markets China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan exhibits an upward trend, while Malaysia and Singapore are in negative territory.
Shanghai Composite increased 4.03 points or 0.12% to 3,321.65, Taiwan Weighted higher 46.66 points or 0.44% to 10,647.03, Hang Seng increased 206.89 points or 0.71% to 29,281.13, KOSPI Index strengthened 16.49 points or 0.67% to 2,491.90 and Jakarta Composite was up by 53.51 points or 0.9% to 6,005.65.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 dipped 70.75 points or 0.31% to 22,748.28, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 6.5 points or 0.38% to 1,711.36 and Straits Times was down by 11.16 points or 0.32% to 3,438.38.