Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Friday, extending gains from the previous session, after the European Central Bank announced its highly-anticipated decision to implement quantitative easing. Further, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi announced an expanded asset purchase program. Draghi said the ECB will purchase 60 billion euros per month worth of securities, including investment grade sovereign bonds, beginning in March and currently scheduled to last until September of 2016. The Japanese market is trading higher as weaker yen boosted export-oriented stocks. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are advancing in a range of 0.6 percent to 1.3 percent.
Nikkei 225 strengthen 163.54 points or 0.94% to 17,492.56, Hang Seng gained by 308.64 points or 1.26% to 24,831.27, Jakarta Composite rose 69.30 points or 1.32% to 5,322.48, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased by 18.82 points or 1.06% to 1,800.57. Taiwan Weighted spurted 79.54 points or 0.90% to 9,453.85, Straits Times added 38.94 points or 1.16% to 3,409.23, KOSPI Index jumped 13.10 points or 0.68% to 1,933.92 and Shanghai Composite was up by 46.58 points or 1.39% to 3,389.92.