Asian markets trade lower in early deals on Friday

08 Mar 2019 Evaluate

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.

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