Asian Markets trade mostly lower in early deals on Friday

19 Mar 2021 Evaluate
Most of the Asian equity benchmarks traded lower in early deals on Friday, pressured by the hefty selling in technological and energy stocks. Market sentiments got dulled with the cautious outlook amid stronger bond yields, negative trend in crude oil rates and on weaker Wall street cues overnight. Japan’s Nikkei is tumbling as the investors side-lined ahead to the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision due later today. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, China and Malaysia are trading down. Bucking the trend, Singapore traded higher.

Nikkei 225 down by 363.99 points or 1.20% to 29,852.76,  Hang Seng declined 454.89 points or 1.55% to 28,950.83, Taiwan Weighted slipped 179.08 points or 1.10% to 16,108.76, KOSPI Index dropped by 18.08 points or 0.59% to 3,047.93, Jakarta Composite lower by 25.27 points or 0.40% to 6,322.56, Shanghai Composite fell by 36.16 points or 1.04% to 3,426.91 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI lost by 6.53 points 0.40% to 1,621.46.

On the flip side, Straits Times rose by 10.13 points or 0.32% to 3,147.79.

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