Asian stocks open mostly lower

Asian stocks opened today with a mixed performance but mostly lower, following Wall Street, as the Japanese, Chinese, Australian and New Zealand's stocks fell in addition to Hong Kong's Hang Seng, while the South Korean Kospi rose, amid markets pricing of the US trade protectionism and its impacts on the global economy.

The Japanese stocks saw a decline, with the Topix index falling by 0.77% or 11.58 points to 1,495.19, and Nikkei 225 fell by 0.77% or 80.30 points to 20,596.92.

The Chinese stocks also fell, as the CSI 300 index fell by 0.22% or 8.49 points to 3,779.24, and the Shanghai Composite index fell by 0.10% or 3.01 points to 2,876.99.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.07% or 17.96 points to 26,213.58, while South Korea's Kospi rose by 0.29% or 5.69 points to 1,965.94.

To New Zealand's NZX 50 index falling by 1.25% or 134.84 points to 10,669.00, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell by 1.00% or 65.46 points to fall to 6,479.50.