Most of the Asian markets are trading in red in early deals on Wednesday, following the negative cues from Wall Street and weaker commodity prices, while the US dollar strengthened amid worries about trade tensions and the turbulence in emerging markets. News that South Africa has slipped into recession for the first time since 2009 added to the pressure on emerging markets currencies and stocks. Meanwhile, concerns about economic damage from a powerful typhoon as well as underlying caution over international trade disputes hit Japanese shares, putting the Nikkei index on course for a fourth consecutive day of losses. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Shanghai and Indonesia are lower. Bucking the trend, Taiwan is in positive territory.
Nikkei 225 dipped 69.62 points or 0.31% to 22,627.28, Hang Seng dropped 461.20 points or 1.68% to 27,512.14, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI contracted 6.18 points or 0.34% to 1,806.58, KOSPI Index slipped 4.29 points or 0.19% to 2,311.43, Straits Times crumbled 26.20 points or 0.82% to 3,184.31, Shanghai Composite decreased 25.32 points or 0.93% to 2,725.26, and Jakarta Composite down by 195.81 points or 3.43% to 5,709.49.
On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted up by 2.56 points or 0.02% to 11,023.94.
