Most of the Asian equity indices are trading lower in the early deals on Tuesday as a deluge of US government debt this week and the specter of inflation and a higher fiscal deficit drove US borrowing costs near four-year highs. Though, the Japanese market is advancing, with a weaker safer-haven yen supporting shares. Investors shrugged off the mixed lead overnight from Wall Street and concerns about rising US bond yields. Chinese stocks rebounded sharply after weeks of underperformance, getting a lift from government pronouncements of deeper economic and market reforms, though tech stocks weighted on some indexes elsewhere. Among the other Asian markets, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan and Singapore are lower. Bucking the trend, Hong Kong is higher.
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 9.76 points or 0.52% to 1,870.60, KOSPI Index slipped 4.33 points or 0.18% to 2,469.78, Jakarta Composite dipped 72.32 points or 1.15% to 6,235.83, Taiwan Weighted declined 114.22 points or 1.07% to 10,582.91, and Straits Times down by 1.16 points or 0.03% to 3,578.38.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 added 169.49 points or 0.77% to 22,257.53, Shanghai Composite gained 63.5 points or 2.07% to 3,131.52, and Hang Seng up by 324.39 points or 1.07% to 30,578.79.
