Asian markets mostly trade lower in early deals on Friday

All the Asian equity benchmarks barring Jakarta Composite are trading lower in the early deals on Friday, tracking cues from the US and European markets, where stocks closed weak overnight amid some disappointing earnings and economic reports. Weaker commodity prices and worries about the situation in Ukraine also contributed to the downside. On the regional front, Japanese stock market dropped as investors indulged in some heavy across the board selling and on a stronger yen. In the economy news, final March numbers for Japanese industrial production will be out later in the day. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are notably lower. Shanghai is down with modest losses and Malaysia is down marginally, while Indonesia is modestly higher. Shanghai Composite declined 5.94 points or 0.29% to 2,019.04, Hang Seng slipped by 147.07 points or 0.65% to 22,583.79, KLSE Composite dropped by 0.97 points or 0.05% to 1,878.86, Nikkei 225 tumbled by 280.93 points or 1.96% to 14,017.28, Straits Times contracted 10.96 points or 0.33% to 3,261.53, Seoul Composite decreased by 10.29 points or 0.51% to 1,999.91 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 37.79 points or 0.43% to 8,842.86. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 19.48 points or 0.39% to 5,011.12.