Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading higher in the early deals on Monday following a positive lead from Wall Street. Most of the markets started off on a firm note, but gave up early gains due to lack of support at higher levels, with investors treading cautiously and looking for fresh triggers. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan and Indonesia are trading modestly higher. Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea are up marginally. Malaysia and Shanghai are trading lower.
Hang Seng gained 2.37 points or 0.01% to 23,457.16, KOSPI Index strengthened by 1.13 points or 0.06% to 2,020.55, Straits Times increased 2.49 points or 0.08% to 3,313.02, Jakarta Composite soared 32.25 points or 0.63% to 5,119.27, Taiwan Weighted was up by 31.70 points or 0.34% to 9,432.67.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite tumbled by 3.61 points or 0.18% to 2,055.45 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 1.36 points or 0.07% to 1,871.61.
The Japanese market remained shut for the trade today for Marine Day Holiday.