DHAKA: Share markets in China and Japan were heading lower after Wall Street fell on the back of a drop in oil prices and as China's poor trading figures were digested.

West Texas Intermediate oil fell 4.3% to $36.28 a barrel and Brent crude dropped 3.4% to $39.45 a barrel, reports the BBC.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost as much as 1.5% in early trading, and was later down 1.33% to 16,560.7 points.

China’s mainland Shanghai Composite was down 1.66% to 2,853.02.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.55% to 19,902.89.

Trade figures from Beijing released on Tuesday showed that Chinese exports suffered their sharpest drop in almost seven years, adding to concerns over the health of the world's second largest economy.

Exports sank by 25.4% from a year earlier, while imports fell 13.8%.

In South Korea, the Kospi index was down 0.12% to 1,943.95 points.

Australia was the only market in positive territory early on Tuesday with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index up 0.3% to 5,121.7.

Shares in some of the country’s big lenders were pulling the market up in morning trade. Commonwealth Bank shares were up almost 1% and Westpac rose 1.3%.

BDST: 1220 HRS, MAR 09, 2016
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