Most of the Asian equity benchmarks, which reopened after the Christmas Day holiday, are mostly lower in thin holiday trade on Tuesday as investors continued to stay on the sidelines amid a lack of fresh catalysts. Crude oil prices edged higher in Asian trades. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei share average inched down caught in a narrow range as the index lacked leads from other markets, while retailers lifted after Takashimaya rose strongly on upbeat earnings. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are also lower. Bucking the trend, South Korea and China are edging higher. The markets in Hong Kong and Indonesia continue to remain closed for Christmas holidays.
Nikkei 225 dropped 29.18 points or 0.13% to 22,910.00, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI contracted 4.07 points or 0.23% to 1,756.17, Taiwan Weighted declined 95.87 points or 0.91% to 10,426.62, and Straits Times was down by 13.26 points or 0.39% to 3,372.45.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite added 5.95 points or 0.18% to 3,286.41, and KOSPI Index was up by 6.06 points or 0.25% to 2,446.60.