Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading higher in the morning deals on Wednesday. The investors treading somewhat cautiously, reacting to corporate earnings and economic data from the region and amid worries about the situation in Ukraine. After opening on a negative note following a weak lead from Wall Street, the Japanese stock market recovered lost ground on data showing a less than forecast contraction in second-quarter GDP. The worries about the situation in Ukraine appeared to be weighed on the market to some extent. In the economy news, Japan's gross domestic product tumbled by a less than expected 6.8 percent on year in the second quarter of 2014, the Cabinet Office said in Wednesday's preliminary reading. Forecasts were for a decline of 7.1 percent following the downwardly revised 6.1 percent gain in the first quarter. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore are trading weak, while Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan are modestly higher.
Nikkei 225 soared 50.51 points or 0.33% to 15,211.82, KOSPI Index gained 12.17 points or 0.60% to 2,053.64, Jakarta Composite increased 11.86 points or 0.23% to 5,144.26, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 3.00 points or 0.16% to 1,853.39 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 50.65 points or 0.55% to 9,213.77.
On the flip side, Hang Seng slipped by 58.48 points or 0.24% to 24,630.93, Straits Times dropped 6.46 points or 0.20% to 3,296.93 and Shanghai Composite was down 14.00 points or 0.63% to 2,207.59.