Asian markets are trading mostly in the red in early deals on Friday after US-China trade talks ended without progress, with the markets braced for a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for hints on the direction of US monetary policy. Though, Japan's Nikkei index was moving up with underlying sentiment helped by a cheaper yen after fresh exchanges of tariffs between the US and China. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Shanghai are lower. Bucking the trend, South Korea is in positive territory.
Hang Seng dropped 191.00 points or 0.69% to 27,599.46, Shanghai Composite dipped 9.64 points or 0.36% to 2,714.98, Straits Times decreased 20.08 points or 0.62% to 3,229.81, Jakarta Composite declined 19.78 points or 0.33% to 5,963.21, Taiwan Weighted slipped 58.29 points or 0.54% to 10,804.84, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI down by 7.29 points or 0.40% to 1,803.58.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 added 143.04 points or 0.63% to 22,553.86, and KOSPI Index up by 2.23 points or 0.10% to 2,284.83.
