The Asian markets made a soft start and barring few most of the indices are trading in red. Japan reporting a wider than expected trade deficit has weighed on the sentiments of the regional markets. Japan’s trade deficit widened to 517.4 billion yen ($6.5 billion) in July, compared with a revised 60.3 billion yen surplus in June, mainly due to Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis and a slowdown in China which dragged down nation's exports.
Shanghai Composite was down by 8.87 points or 0.42% to 2,109.40, Hang Seng was down by 170.28 points or 0.85% to 19,929.81, Nikkei 225 declined by 78.89 points or 0.86% to 9,078.03, Straits Times was down by 26.04 points or 0.83% to 3,040.76, Kospi Composite was lower by 24.61 points or 1.27% to 1,918.56 and Taiwan Weighted has lost 27.73 points or 0.37% to 7,479.03.
On the other hand, KLSE Composite was the lone gainer, up by 3.65 points or 0.22% to 1,649.79.
Jakarta Composite is closed due to Idul Fitri holidays.