The Asian markets have made mostly a weak start with some of the indices trading lower by over half a percent, cautiously waiting for the European Central Bank’s policy meeting and US growth data today and payrolls figures tomorrow that will let investors gauge the outlook for Federal Reserve policy. The Japanese market was suffering profit booking after a smart move in last session, while traders were waiting for preliminary September numbers for its leading and coincident indexes. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese market was trading lower despite signing its biggest trade agreement with Singapore, Taiwan’s fifth-biggest trade partner, in the southeast Asian city-state after two years of talks. The deal with Singapore would facilitate Taiwan’s entry to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Taiwan wants to join by 2020.
Shanghai Composite was down by 5.34 points or 0.25% to 2,134.27, Hang Seng slumped by 152.43 points or 0.66% to 22,884.51, KLSE Composite was down by 0.58 points or 0.03% to 1,802.65, Nikkei 225 shed 96.16 points or 0.67% to 14,241.45, Seoul Composite was down by 11.49 points or 0.57% to 2,003.17 and Taiwan Weighted lost 23.48 points or 0.28% to 8,256.98.
On the other hand, Jakarta Composite was up by 42.03 points or 0.94% to 4,488.49 and Straits Times gained 1.24 points or 0.04% to 3,206.71.