Asian markets mixed after Wall Street slump but Shanghai stays down

Asian stock markets were trading mixed following a weak Wall Street close, as oil continued to stay below $29 a barrel. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.56% to 15,766.74 on 20 January, London's FTSE 100 slipped 3.46% to 5,673.58.

"Overnight markets in the Europe and US had a terrible day, where sentiments around a 'drunk' Asia spilled over," market strategist Bernard Aw of IG explained.

China's Shanghai Composite Index was volatile. It was trading in the green at the start of the trading session on 21 January but later lost ground to 2,963.02, down 0.46%, indicating continuing worries over the country's slowdown. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was trading lower by 1.05% at 18,688.71.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.46% at 4,864.00; South Korea's KOSPI was trading at 1,843.46, down 0.11%; India's CNX Nifty was trading marginally higher by 0.04% at 7,312.55; and Japan's Nikkei225 was at 16,283.99, down 0.81%

Despite the bad start to the year, Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital, opined that there could be a rebound this year. He said, "2016 should end much better than it has started off for investors, ultimately providing okay investment returns, but expect a continued volatile ride."

Oil prices remained under pressure as international sanctions against Iran ended, bringing the country back into the global market. WTI crude oil was trading lower by 0.32% at $28.26 a barrel, while Brent crude was down 0.14% at $27.84 a barrel.