Asian stock markets are exhibiting a mixed trend on Wednesday with investors adopting a wait-and-watch approach ahead of Lunar New Year holidays and the release of US inflation data due later in the day. The Japanese market is drifting lower after opening higher following the overnight gains on Wall Street. A stronger yen is weighing on shares of exporters. In addition, investors digested weaker-than-expected Japanese GDP data for the fourth quarter of 2017. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia are higher. Bucking the trend, Shanghai, and Indonesia are in negative territory. The markets in Taiwan remain closed for the long Lunar New Year break.
Hang Seng added 229.03 points or 0.77% to 30,068.56, KOSPI Index rose 19.46 points or 0.81% to 2,414.65, Straits Times gained 1.59 points or 0.05% to 3,416.66, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 1.16 points or 0.06% to 1,834.18.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 dropped 207.61 points or 0.98% to 21,037.07, Shanghai Composite dipped 9.64 points or 0.3% to 3,175.32, and Jakarta Composite was down by 3.81 points or 0.06% to 6,574.37.
