Most of the Asian equity indices are trading in the red terrain in Monday’s morning session, tailing weak cues from US markets as worse-than-expected jobs report from the United States added to selling pressure, while ongoing tensions on the Korean peninsula also weighed on sentiment. Bucking the trend, Japanese Nikkei surged by about two and a half percent to hit its highest level since August 2008 after last week’s Bank of Japan stimulus that sent the yen to its lowest level in almost four years against the dollar.
Shanghai Composite declined 16.23 points or 0.73% to 2,209.07, Jakarta Composite dropped 33.76 points or 0.69% to 4,892.31, Straits Times slipped 2.45 points or 0.07% to 3,297.33, KOSPI Composite declined 4.25 points or 0.22% to 1,922.98 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 165.85 points or 2.09% to 7,776.50.
On the flip side, Hang Seng rose 23.76 points or 0.11% to 21,750.66, KLSE Composite increased 1.67 points or 0.10% to 1,690.32 and Nikkei 225 was up by 312.48 points or 2.43% to 13,146.12.
