Asian markets are trading mostly in the red terrain in early deals on Monday with investors mostly pressing sales amid concerns over mounting tensions in Ukraine. Weak economic data from China where manufacturing activity shrank in February, is also contributing to the weakness in the region. The Japanese stock market is trading weak with escalating political tensions in Ukraine and the resultant strength of the yen triggering some heavy selling across the board. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are trading notably lower, while Shanghai is trading higher.
Jakarta Composite dropped by 35.82 points or 0.78% to 4,584.40, KLSE Composite declined 11.75 points or 0.64% to 1,823.91, Hang Seng tumbled 158.92 points or 0.70% to 22,678.04, Nikkei 225 slipped by 275.74 points or 1.86% to 14,565.33, Straits Times declined 25.61 points or 0.82% to 3,085.17, Taiwan Weighted crumbled 56.57 points or 0.65% to 8,583.01 and Seoul Composite was down by 16.71 points or 0.84% to 1,963.28.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 16.46 points or 0.80% to 2,072.76.