Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Thursday, with the overnight rally on Wall Street and a recovery in the price of crude oil aiding sentiment. The Japanese stocks rose with all subsectors up after gains in U.S. and European shares and a rebound in oil prices eased investor jitters. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan and South Korea are trading higher with notable gains. Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are up with modest gains. Bucking the trend, Shanghai is down more than 2 percent.
Nikkei 225 strengthen 327.27 points or 1.94% to 17,212.60, Hang Seng jumped by 126.95 points or 0.54% to 23,808.21, Straits Times improved 30.85 points or 0.94% to 3,329.21, Jakarta Composite added 14.12 points or 0.27% to 5,221.24, KOSPI Index rose 20.23 points or 1.07% to 1,904.06, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI surged 14.39 points or 0.84% to 1,723.57 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 158.68 points or 1.81% to 9,244.31.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 59.20 points or 1.75% to 3,314.75.