Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower on Tuesday, due to thin trading ahead of the New Year. Lackluster cues from US stock markets and profit booking by market participants also weighed on the market sentiments. Meanwhile, markets in Japan, Indonesia and South Korea are closed for New Year's Eve. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Shanghai, and Malaysia, are in negative trend. However, Singapore edged higher.
Hang Seng down 129.64 points or 0.46% to 28,189.75, Taiwan Weighted decreased 28.13 points or 0.23% 12,025.24, Shanghai dipped 1.76 points or 0.06% to 3,038.26 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI narrowed by 14.79 points or 0.92% to 1,600.88.
On the flip side, Straits Times up 0.39 points or 0.01% to 3,222.83.
