Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading in red in the early deals on Friday with the overnight weak close on Wall Street amid uncertainty about the outlook for the Republican tax reform plan weighing on investors’ sentiments. Though some of the markets in the region opened on a firm note, lack of support at higher levels pushed down the key indices into the negative terrain. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks fell to more than a week low, with mobile firms extending a sell-off on concerns of increased competition after Rakuten said it aims to become Japan’s fourth wireless carrier. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia are weak. Bucking the trend, South Korea is higher.
Nikkei 225 declined 40.07 points or 0.18% to 22,654.38, Shanghai Composite slipped 28.08 points or 0.85% to 3,264.36, Jakarta Composite dropped 23.18 points or 0.38% to 6,090.48, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 4.68 points or 0.27% to 1,754.32, Taiwan Weighted reduced 85.16 points or 0.81% to 10,452.85, Hang Seng contracted 332.62 points or 1.14% to 28,833.76, and Straits Times was down by 19.32 points or 0.56% to 3,416.46.
On the flip side, KOSPI Index was up by 11.7 points or 0.47% to 2,481.18.