Asian equity benchmarks are trading in red in the early deals on Friday following the weak cues overnight from US and European markets amid fresh worries about a global economic slowdown after European Central Bank cut its 2019 economic growth forecast and announced a series of stimulus measures to encourage lending. Chinese stocks slumped as traders took a rare sell rating from the nation’s largest brokerage as a sign that the government wants to slow down the rally. Investors are also cautious as they look ahead to the release of the US Labor Department's closely-watched monthly jobs report for February later in the day.
Nikkei 225 dropped 442.40 points or 2.06% to 21,013.61, Straits Times decreased 22.16 points or 0.69% to 3,207.32, KOSPI Shares declined 22.47 points or 1.04% to 2,143.32, Hang Seng contracted 432.21 points or 1.50% to 28,347.24, Jakarta Composite tumbled 51.62 points or 0.80% to 6,406.34, Shanghai Composite slipped 90.20 points or 2.90% to 3,016.22, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 3.66 points or 0.22% to 1,683.29, and Taiwan Weighted down by 74.25 points or 0.72% to 10,237.43.
