Asian markets trade mostly lower in early deals on Monday

Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Monday despite an upward revision in US gross domestic product data stoked expectations for a steady recovery in the world’s largest economy. On Friday, data showed that the US economy grew at a 1.4% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the fourth quarter, compared with a previous estimate for 1% growth. China stocks rose, helped by data over the weekend showing industrial profits returned to growth in the first two months of the year despite a slowing economy, lifting manufacturing shares. January and February profits at Chinese industrial firms rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier, compared with a fall of 4.7 percent in December, which was the seven month of decline. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is rising, extending gains from the previous session on Friday, as a weaker yen and the release of better-than-expected US GDP data boosted investor sentiment. Among the other Asian markets, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia are higher. The markets in Hong Kong are closed for the Easter holiday.

Jakarta Composite declined 56.81 points or 1.18% to 4,770.28, Taiwan Weighted dropped 5.83 points or 0.07% to 8,699.14, KOSPI Index dipped 0.10 points or 0.01% to 1,983.71, Straits Times slipped 16.96 points or 0.60% to 2,830.43, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 5.03 points or 0.30% to 1,698.76.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 19.04 points or 0.11% to 17,021.79, and Shanghai Composite was up by 14.29 points or 0.48% to 2,993.72.