Asian markets pause; Nikkei down 103pts

Asian markets today are witnessing some profit taking following significant gains in the last few days.

The Nikkei was down 103 points to 17,641. The Taiwan Weighted index had slipped 29 points to 8027, and the Straits Times index had shed 12 points to 3387.

The Shanghai Composite index, however, was up 21 points at 3420.