Asian equity benchmarks are trading mostly in red in the early deals on Thursday, in a cautious trade ahead of the Good Friday and Easter holidays. Japan's nikkei also in a negative trend snapping five session gain in a row, due to a stronger yen and on weak cues from Wall Street. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, Hong Kong, South Korea and Malaysia are in negative territory. Bucking the trend, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia are in positive lead.
Nikkei 225 down 138.93 points or 0.62% to 22,139.04, Shanghai Composite diminish by 7.45 points or 0.23% to 3,255.67,Hang Seng decrease 181.85 points or 0.60% to 29,942.83, KOSPI Shares down 23.75 points or 1.06% to 2,222.14, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dip by 9.23 points or 0.57% to 1,611.67.
Straits Times up 0.01 points or 0.37% to 3,349.01, Taiwan Weighted rose 1.46 points or 0.01% to 10,998.72, and Jakarta Composite enlarge 44.90 points or 0.69% to 6,526.44.
