Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Monday, with a recovery in oil prices and a positive lead from Wall Street aiding sentiment. Optimism about the economy and easing worries about interest rate hikes after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would be patient with regard to monetary tightening lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new closing highs on Friday, setting up a positive start for Asian Further, the Japanese stock market opened higher as slightly stronger dollar and positive reaction to the government's nod to a near $30 billion stimulus package too contributed to the higher start. Among the other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai and Hong Kong are up sharply with their benchmark indices rising over 2 percent. Taiwan is notably higher, while Singapore and Indonesia are up with modest gains. Malaysia is up marginally, while South Korea is trading weak.
Nikkei 225 gained by 10.21 points or 0.06% to 17,818.96, Hang Seng increased by 440.86 points or 1.89% to 27,444.98, Straits Times jumped 8.91 points or 0.27% to 3,362.59, Jakarta Composite surged 9.04 points or 0.17% to 5,175.67, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose by 1.13 points or 0.03% to 1,765.04, Shanghai Composite improved by 52.17 points or 1.71% to 3,109.69 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 64.43 points or 0.70% to 9,284.47.
On the flip side, KOSPI Index was down by 17.75 points or 0.91% to 1,930.41.