All the Asian equity markets are trading in the green in morning deals on Friday due to a positive lead from Wall Street where the major averages closed on a firm note overnight on fairly positive economic data and amid slightly easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The Japanese stocks extended gains to a seven-year high, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he will aim to carry out a pension fund reform as soon as possible, boosting sentiment that was already upbeat due to the yen's weakness. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea are notably higher. Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are up with modest gains, while Shanghai is trading weak.
Straits Times rose 10.78 points or 10.78% to 3,308.07, Nikkei 225 strengthen by 287.74 points or 1.79% to 16,355.31, Jakarta Composite spurted by 23.79 points or 0.46% to 5,231.93, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained by 5.70 points or 0.31% to 1,851.02, Hang Seng jumped by 88.39 points or 0.37% to 24,257.11, KOSPI Index added by 9.89 points or 0.48% to 2,057.63 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 3.07 points or 0.03% to 9,240.10.
On the flip side Shanghai Composite was down by 2.36 points or 0.10% to 2,313.56