Asian markets trade mostly lower in early deals on Friday

20 Jul 2018 Evaluate

Most of the Asian markets are trading lower in early deals on Friday, following the negative lead from Wall Street amid US President Donald Trump's criticism of the Federal Reserve and as China's central bank lowered its midpoint for the yuan to its lowest level in a year. Worries about the European Union imposing retaliatory tariffs on US goods also weighed on investor sentiment. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks dropped as an extended decline in the Chinese yuan rekindled worries about the stability of the Chinese economy which faces rising risks from a major trade conflict with the United States. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and China are lower. Bucking the trend, Taiwan and Singapore are higher.

Nikkei 225 declined 171.53 points or 0.76% to 22,593.15, Hang Seng dropped 152.63 points or 0.55% to 27,858.23, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 7.78 points or 0.44% to 1,751.46, Jakarta Composite slipped 26.74 points or 0.46% to 5,844.34, KOSPI Index contracted 4.40 points or 0.19% to 2,277.89, and Shanghai Composite down by 3.35 points or 0.12% to 2,769.20.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted gained 75.23 points or 0.69% to 10,910.61, and Straits Times up by 14.01 points or 0.43% to 3,291.59.

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