Asian markets traded mostly lower in early deals on Tuesday, on account hefty sell offs in technology and chip sector stocks. Investors were cautious ahead of the US midterm elections and upcoming central bank rate decisions fuelled risk aversion. Concurrently, falling crude oil prices dragged down energy and commodity shares. South Korea's Kospi plunged due to worries over stretched valuations in artificial intelligence companies. Stock market of Japan is closed for Culture Day.
Straits Times down by 1.52 points or 0.03% to 5,282.48, Taiwan Weighted tumbled by 1,602.71 points or 3.57% to 43,317.43, KOSPI Index plunged by 220.14 points or 3.76% to 5,638.94, Shanghai Composite narrowed by 37.29 points or 1.04% to 3,600.74, Jakarta Composite wilted by 133.77 points or 2.62% to 4,963.06.
On the flipside, Hang Seng up by 90.68 points or 0.39% to 23,484.00 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index rose by 2.80 points or 0.17% to 1,622.31.