Asian markets trade mostly lower in early deals on Tuesday

Most of the Asian markets are trading lower in the early deals on Tuesday as investors braced for a possible hawkish shift in the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy stance as it begins a two-day policy meeting later in the day. Moreover, the overnight lackluster session on Wall Street and lingering geopolitical worries also appear to be prompting investors to mostly stay on the sidelines. The Japanese stock market, reopening after an extended weekend, edged lower, dragged down by a slightly stronger yen. Profit taking after recent gains and disappointing Chinese economic data released over the weekend also contributed to the weakness in the market. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore and Taiwan are notably lower. Indonesia is down with modest losses, while Shanghai and South Korea are trading higher.

Straits Times dipped 19.35 points or 0.58% to 3,293.12, Nikkei 225 crumbled by 49.35 points or 0.31% to 15,898.94, Jakarta Composite declined by 9.37 points or 0.18% to 5,135.53, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased by 8.34 points or 0.45% to 1,847.30, Hang Seng slipped by 238.33 points or 0.97% to 24,356.99, and Taiwan Weighted was down by 68.80 points or 0.75% to 9,148.66.

On the flip side KOSPI Index added by 8.25 points or 0.41% to 2,044.07 and Shanghai Composite was up by 1.82 points or 0.08% to 2,340.96.