Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading higher in the early deals on Thursday, with the regional indices extending rally to a six-month high, as phone carriers and electronics manufacturers advanced. The Japanese stock market improved despite a weak lead from Wall Street. However, a stronger yen and disappointing retails sales data restricted the gains. In the economic report, retail sales in Japan were down 4.4 percent on year in April, coming in at 11.011 trillion yen. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore are trading notably higher. Malaysia and Shanghai are up marginally, while, South Korea and Taiwan are slightly weak.
Shanghai Composite improved 0.31 points or 0.02% points or 2,050.54, Hang Seng gained 92.30 points or 0.40% to 23,172.33, Jakarta Composite surged 21.65 points or 0.44% to 4,985.58, KLSE Composite strengthened by 5.52 points or 0.29% to 1,877.18, Nikkei 225 spurted by 8.85 points or 0.06% to 14,679.80 and Straits Times was up by 30.07 points or 0.92% to 3,301.91.
On the flip side, Seoul Composite declined 5.78 points or 0.29% to 2,011.28 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 8.37 points or 0.09% to 9,113.34.