All the Asian equity markets are trading with deep cut in morning deals on Monday amid renewed concerns about the outlook for the global economy after recent weak data from China. Fears of more stimulus tapering from the US Federal Reserve too was dampening the sentiments. Japanese markets declined by over two percent as the yen surged to a seven-week high against the dollar. On the economy front, Japan saw a merchandise trade deficit of 1,302.11 billion yen in December, missing expectations for a shortfall of 1,280.0 billion yen after showing a 1,292.9 billion yen deficit in November. Exports were up 15.3 percent on year, also shy of forecasts for 19.0 percent after climbing 18.4 percent in the previous month. Imports surged an annual 24.7 percent versus expectations for 27.5 percent following the 21.1 percent annual jump a month earlier.
Shanghai Composite dipped 14.10 points or 0.69% to 2,040.29, Hang Seng tumbled 462.41 points or 2.06% to 21,987.65, Jakarta Composite tanked 135.23 points or 3.05% to 4,302.12, KLSE Composite decreased 15.40 points or 0.85% to 1,787.17, Nikkei 225 declined 333.14 points or 2.16% to 15,058.42, Straits Times shed 40.83 points or 1.33% to 3,035.16, Seoul Composite contracted 27.46 points or 1.42% to 1,913.10 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 121.37 points or 1.41% to 8,476.94.