Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Friday, on news of a ceasefire accord in Ukraine, while Sweden's surprise move to cut its main rate into negative territory and hopes of a resolution between debt-strapped Greece and its creditors burnished risk appetite. Meanwhile, Japan's share average fell retreating from a 7-1/2 year closing high as investors took profits from the previous day's gainers such as Fanuc Corp, but buying in defensive shares limited the losses. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan are in positive territory, but with modest gains.
Hang Seng gained by 219.26 points or 0.90% to 24,641.41, Jakarta Composite surged 25.30 points or 0.47% to 5,368.71, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI jumped by 5.54 points or 0.31% to 1,794.61. Taiwan Weighted strengthen 35.22 points or 0.34% to 9,528.18, Straits Times increased 4.00 points or 0.12% to 3,423.17 , KOSPI Index rose 10.43 points or 0.54% to 1,952.06 and Shanghai Composite was up by 49.75 points or 1.57% to 3,223.17.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 103.51 points or 0.58% to 17,876.21.