Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower on Thursday, on concerns about uncertainty in US-China trade talks and the Japan-South Korea trade dispute. Market sentiments are dulled with dip in crude oil prices and with the worries on economic slowdown after the release of regional economic data and corporate earnings results. The Japanese Nikkei is in negative territory with the sluggish trend of wall street stocks overnight. In addition, a stronger yen weighed on shares of exporters. Investors also digested Japan's trade data for June released today. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, Malaysia Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are in negative territory. However, Indonesia is in positive lead.
Nikkei 225 decreases 383.06 points or 1.78% to 21,086.12, Straits Times down 10.07 points or 0.30% to 3,354.80, Hang Seng dims 139.60 points or 0.49% to 28,453.57, Taiwan Weighted decline 26.17 points or 0.24% to 10,802.31, and KOSPI Index dips 7.37 points or 0.36% to 2,065.55, Shanghai dips by 19.04 points 0.65% to 2,912.65 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreases 1.51 points or 0.09% to 1,656.02, .
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite up by 2.45 points or 0.04% to 6,397.06.
