Most of the Asian markets are trading weak in the early deals on Tuesday following steep declines on Wall Street overnight amid heightened tensions in Ukraine. The investors mostly treading cautiously, tracking regional economic data for direction. Though most of the markets in the region opened lower, some markets bounced back on finding modest support at lower levels. The Japanese market traded up, with investors indulging in some bargain hunting after recent sharp losses and as the yen's retreat against the U.S. dollar. In the economy report, Japan's monetary base climbed 55.7% on year in February, coming in at 201.322 trillion yen. That follows the 51.9% spike in January. The adjusted monetary base climbed 73.1% to 210.885 trillion yen. Chinese stocks slipped, before the start of an annual policy-setting meeting tomorrow, which will give clues on the next steps to fix local-government finances, charge market prices for natural resources, rein in shadow-banking risks, free up deposit rates and open up state businesses to private investment.
Shanghai Composite declined by 16.56 points or 0.80% to 2,058.68, Jakarta Composite slipped 14.83 points or 0.32% to 4,569.37, KLSE Composite dropped 4.78 points or 0.26% to 1,819.91, Seoul Composite contracted by 6.25 points or 0.32% to 1,958.44 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 20.58 points or 0.24% to 8,581.40.
On the flip side, Hang Seng surged by 79.84 points or 0.35% to 22,580.51, Nikkei 225 soared 9.11 points or 0.06% to 14,661.34 and Straits Times was up by 9.18 points or 0.30% to 3,096.65.