Renewed worry on the Fed’s stance drags Asian markets lower in early deals

Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading mostly in the red in early deals on Wednesday as sentiments remained subdued amid renewed concerns about the outlook for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus plan. The Japanese market drifted lower in early deals and was trading with a cut of quarter a percent, as investors offloaded their holding at several counters, tracking a weak lead from Wall Street. On the economic front, an index measuring corporate service prices in Japan was up 0.6 percent on year in August, standing at 96.1, beating forecasts for an increase of 0.5 percent following the upwardly revised 0.6 percent increase in July (originally called 0.4 percent). Though, on a monthly basis, prices dipped 0.3 percent after rising 0.1 percent in July.

Jakarta Composite declined 45.98 points or 1.03% to 4,414.44, KLSE Composite dropped 6.77 points or 0.38% to 1,785.71, Nikkei 225 shed 36.18 points or 0.25% to 14,696.43, Seoul Composite contracted 14.58 points or 0.73% to 1,992.52 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 30.37 points or 0.37% to 8,268.75.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite rose 5.86 points or 0.27% to 2,213.39 and Hang Seng was up by 31.20 points or 0.13% to 23,210.24. 

Stock markets in South Korea remained shut for trade today.