Asian equity benchmarks are trading mixed on Wednesday, as the market participants side-lined followed by the new Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen sounding concerned over weakness in US currency which could spell bad news for emerging markets and the global equity rally and on caution ahead to the swearing in of the new US President Joe Biden. Japan’s Nikkei is retreating after opening higher, amid concerns over surging covid cased and the daily death toll in the country. Safe haven yen held firmer. Among the Asian markets, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea are in negative territory. Bucking the trend, Hong Kong, Indonesia, China and Malaysia are trading higher.
Nikkei 225 down by 187.25 points or 0.65% to 28,446.21, Straits Times dipped by 8.14 points or 0.27% to 2,987.78, Taiwan Weighted slipped 27.85 points or 0.18% to 15,849.52, and KOSPI Index curtailed 1.20 points or 0.04% to 3,091.46.
On the flip side, Hang Seng increased by 76.58 points or 0.26% to 29,718.86, Jakarta Composite added 81.93 points or 1.30% to 6,403.79, Shanghai Composite higher by 0.29 points or 0.01% to 3,566.67, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI widened by 11.67 points 0.73% to 1,613.55.
