Asian markets trade mostly lower in early deals on Friday

Most of the Asian markets are trading lower in the early deal on Friday tracking the negative lead overnight from Wall Street and on worries about the escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko has accused Russia of sending its troops into his country and called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council and the European Council to discuss the issue. Further, Japanese stock market is trading lower as investors reacted to worries over the escalating tensions in Ukraine as well as a mixed bag of local economic data.  Among other markets in the region, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan are trading in negative territory, while Shanghai is marginally higher.

KOSPI Index shaded by 6.91 points or 0.33% to 2,068.85, Hang Seng decreased by 62.86 points or 0.2% to 24,678.14, Jakarta Composite dipped by 8.32 points or 0.16% to 5,176.16, Nikkei 225 contracted by 50.18 points or 0.32% to 15,409.68, Taiwan Weighted tumbled by 26.36 points or 0.28% to 9,452.01, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 4.51 points or 0.24% to 1,871.17 and Straits Times was down 2.22 points or 0.07% to 3,328.00.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 5.78 points or 0.26% to 2,201.60.