Asian equity benchmarks are exhibiting mixed trend in early deals on Wednesday, tracking the weak cues overnight from Wall Street and on concerns about the Chinese economy. The Asian stocks swung between gains and losses as energy shares advanced, countering declines by raw-material producers. The Japanese stock market was trading negative as the yen strengthened. The yen held gains against all 16 major peers as demand was fed by concerns on China’s economic slowdown and Ukraine’s intensifying political crisis. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Shanghai, South Korea and Taiwan are trading marginally higher. Meanwhile, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are trading in negative territory.
Shanghai Composite increased by 2.84 points or 0.14% to 2,037.06, Hang Seng gained 41.69 points or 0.19% to 22,358.89, Seoul Composite surged 1.87 points or 0.10% to 1,966.73 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 40.70 points or 0.47% to 8,616.32.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite slipped 26.45 points or 0.58% to 4,550.84, KLSE Composite decreased by 6.22 points or 0.34% to 1,827.53, Nikkei 225 tumbled by 53.03 points or 0.35% to 14,998.57 and Straits Times was down by 14.76 points or 0.48% to 3,088.86.