Most of the Asian equity indices are trading down in the early deals on Monday as caution gripped investors in a week in which the Federal Reserve is likely to hike US interest rates and perhaps signal that as many as three more lie in store for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is declining despite the positive cues from Wall Street and a weaker yen, as the political uncertainty in Japan following the widening favoritism scandal linked to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe weighed on investors’ sentiments. Investors are also cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting. Though, China and Hong Kong stocks rose after Beijing elected a key economic team, and as investors awaited the US Federal Reserve rate decision later this week. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan and Singapore are lower. Bucking the trend, Malaysia is higher.
Nikkei 225 declined 176.71 points or 0.82% to 21,499.80, KOSPI Index dropped 15.18 points or 0.61% to 2,478.79, Jakarta Composite slipped 5.04 points or 0.08% to 6,299.91, Taiwan Weighted contracted 3.77 points or 0.03% to 11,023.93, and Straits Times down by 3.98 points or 0.11% to 3,508.16.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 2.41 points or 0.13% to 1,848.80, Shanghai Composite gained 5.49 points or 0.17% to 3,275.37, and Hang Seng up by 60.17 points or 0.19% to 31,562.14.
