Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Friday, due to upbeat expectations for the closely-watched U.S. jobs data, while the euro continued to flirt with fresh nine-year lows against the dollar. Japanese stocks extended their gains into a third day after Wall Street rallied on growing confidence in the U.S. economy, while hopes of aggressive stimulus steps in Europe and a pause in sliding oil prices bolstered sentiment. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Shanghai are trading higher. Meanwhile, Malaysia,and Taiwan are trading in negative territory.
Nikkei 225 surged 58.85 points or 0.34% to 17,225.95, Hang Seng rose 246.22 points or 1.03% to 24,081.75, Straits Times increased 3.64 points or 0.11% to 3,348.75, Jakarta Composite jumped 19.44 points or 0.37% to 5,231.27, KOSPI Index gained 21.88 points or 1.15% to 1,926.53 and Shanghai Composite was up by 8.17 points or 0.25% to 3,301.63.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 1.06 points or 0.06% to 1,727.00 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 3.63 points or 0.04% to 9,234.39.