Most Asian equity benchmarks barring Nikkei 225 were trading higher in the morning deals on Thursday, tracking cues from Wall Street where the major averages ended on a firm note overnight following a positive reaction to results from Alcoa. Further, investors speculated that increasing Chinese exports and imports signaled growth in the world’s second-largest economy is stabilizing too supported the upsurge. However, buying interest is somewhat subdued in some of the markets in the region due to some disappointing economic data. Meanwhile, the Japanese stock market dropped following the release of some disappointing economic data and on a slightly stronger yen. The index measuring prices for domestic corporate goods was up 0.2 percent on month at 106.3 in June. The headline figure beat expectations for an increase of 0.1 percent, although it was down from 0.3 percent in May. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Shanghai, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan are trading higher.
Hang Seng gained 79.33 points or 0.34% to 23,255.40, KOSPI Index increased by 5.04 points or 0.25% to 2,005.54, Straits Times improved 8.31 points or 0.25% to 3,283.77, Jakarta Composite soared 108.93 points or 2.17% to 5,133.64, Shanghai Composite surged by 4.30 points or 0.21% to 2,042.92, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 1.21 points or 0.06% to 1,892.37 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 70.53 points or 0.74% to 9,560.51.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 tumbled by 27.32 points or 0.18% to 15,275.33.