Most of the Asian markets are trading higher in the early deals on Wednesday with some fairly upbeat economic data from the region lifting sentiment The Japanese stocks gained early with the help of the yen's slump against the dollar and as investors in the region turned their attention increasingly to a meeting by the European Central Bank later this week and investors' bets that expected changes in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet could boost volumes in equities markets. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Shanghai are notably higher. Indonesia and Singapore are up marginally, while Malaysia and South Korea is trading weak.
Jakarta Composite increased by 18.19 points or 0.35% to 5,219.77, Nikkei 225 rose by 192.00 points or 1.24% to 15,668.60, Taiwan Weighted improved by 33.91 points or 0.36% to 9,433.63, Straits Times was gained 7.28 points or 0.22% to 3,335.58 and Shanghai Composite was up by 30.54 points or 1.37% to 2,266.05.
On the flip side, KOSPI Index dropped by 0.34 points or 0.02% to 2,051.24, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 7.55 points or 0.40% to 1,860.14 and Hang Seng was down by 3.07 points or 0.01% to 24,749.02.