Asian markets trade mostly lower in early deals on Thursday

Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Thursday as investors digested disappointing corporate earnings results and the continued decline in crude oil prices. Chinese stocks retreated after data released early Thursday showed that growth in the nation’s industrial profits had slowed last month. China recorded 7.7% year-over-year growth in industrial profits in September, sharply down from the 19.5% growth the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei share average edged down as poor earnings forecasts from companies such as Nintendo and Canon disappointed the market, offsetting gains in domestic demand sensitive stocks. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia are also in negative territory. Bucking the trend, Singapore, South Korea and Indonesia are modestly higher.

Nikkei 225 dropped 86.65 points or 0.50% to 17,305.19, Hang Seng dipped 268.81 points or 1.15% to 23,056.62, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped 6.04 points or 0.36% to 1,667.88, Taiwan Weighted decreased 41.30 points or 0.44% to 9,320.95, Straits Times declined 2.15 points or 0.08% to 2,826.42, and Shanghai Composite was down by 10.50 points or 0.34% to 3,105.81.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 19.65 points or 0.36% to 5,419.33, and KOSPI Index was up by 6.79 points or 0.34% to 2,020.68.