Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading in the red terrain in early deals on Friday, with most of them swinging between gains and losses following the release of a slew of regional economic data. The investors across Asia appear a bit wary of indulging in any aggressive buying, with the latest batch of weak US economic data hurting sentiment to an extent. China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped as the Yuan posted its steepest one-day loss ahead of next week’s National People’s Congress meetings and on concern the economy will slow as banks curb lending to the real-estate market while a weaker Yuan spurs capital outflows. Japanese Nikkei was trading weak with investors mostly treading cautiously following the release of a slew of economic data. The yen's upmove against the US dollar is also aiding sentiments. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia, and Malaysia are trading higher. Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea are trading weak. Taiwan Weighted remained closed on Friday.
Shanghai Composite dropped by 19.47 points or 0.95% to 2,027.88, Hang Seng tumbled 96.90 points or 0.42% to 22,731.28, Nikkei 225 slipped by 69.47 points or 0.47% to 14,853.64, Straits Times declined 6.90 points or 0.22% to 3,089.84 and Seoul Composite was down by 0.39 points or 0.02% to 1,978.04.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite rose 26.40 points or 0.58% to 4,595.34, and KLSE Composite soared 2.54 points or 0.14% to 1,834.20