Most of the Asian equity benchmarks traded lower in early deals on Monday, weighed down by the continued worries over global economic health amid the spike in spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus in several markets in the region and across the world. Investors also side lined ahead to the monetary policy meeting of the Federal Reserve awaiting for more cues. Technological share sell off and weak trend in banking financial sector also added losses in the indices. Japan’s Nikkei which resumed after two trading holidays geared a bullish trend with the bargain hunting at prevailing levels. Moreover, Friday’s positive outlook in Wall Street with the upbeat earnings news and signs of economic revival fuelled investor risk appetite. Among the Asian stocks, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, China and Malaysia are in negative trend. Bucking the trend, Japan and Indonesia are in positive territory.
Straits Times down by 17.06 points or 0.54% to 3,139.99, Hang Seng slipped by 794.92 points or 2.91% to 26,527.06, Taiwan Weighted lower by 124.63 points or 0.71% to 17,448.29, KOSPI curtailed by 21.53 points or 0.66% to 3,232.89, Shanghai Composite narrowed by 77.27 points or 2.18% to 3,473.13, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 5.13 points or 0.34% to 1,518.31
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 up by 297.86 points or 1.08% to 27,845.86, and Jakarta Composite lifted by 8.49 points 0.14% to 6,110.18.