Asian markets start lower

The Asian markets are largely in the red after a the US stocks closed nearly unchanged, a day after Wall Street's best rally since March. Also, the investors are awaiting the signs of progress on Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis.

The top loser among the indices are Shanghai Composite and Seoul Composite down 0.7% each.

The Shanghai Composite fell as the HSBC’s China “flash” manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to a 28-month low of 48.9 in July, down from 50.1 in June, indicating a contraction since July 2010.

Hong Kong stocks opened higher but quickly slipped into negative territory and is down 0.4% while the Nikkei is flat with a negative bias at 9,994.

Menawhile, Jakarta Composite is up nearly 0.2% and NZSE added 0.3%