Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Thursday amid concerns over trade wars, while the US dollar fell following Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's comments that a weaker greenback would be good for US trade. Meanwhile, higher commodity prices lifted resources stocks. Japan’s Nikkei share average dropped to a 10-day low as a stronger yen hurt exporters, although oil and mining stocks bucked the weakness, supported by firmer oil prices. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Shanghai and Singapore are lower. Bucking the trend, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea are in positive territory.
Nikkei 225 dropped 220.59 points or 0.92% to 23,720.19, Hang Seng slipped 102.69 points or 0.31% to 32,856.00, Jakarta Composite declined 16.02 points or 0.24% to 6,599.47, Shanghai Composite decreased 5.07 points or 0.14% to 3,554.40, and Straits Times was down by 24.44 points or 0.68% to 3,584.80.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 3.28 points or 0.18% to 1,840.32, Taiwan Weighted gained 19.06 points or 0.17% to 11,171.22, and KOSPI Index was up by 20.2 points or 0.8% to 2,558.20.
