Asian markets were trading mostly in the green in early deals on Monday after China on Saturday stepped up its easing tempo and cut its lending and deposit rates as the world’s second largest economy tries to ward off deflation. Moreover, the Japanese market too was trading in positive territory, with a weaker yen boosting exporters’ stocks. On the economic front, Japanese Ministry of Finance said that capital spending in Japan was up 2.8 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2014, coming in at 9.708 trillion yen. That missed forecasts for an increase of 4.1 percent following the 5.5 percent jump in the third quarter. Japan will also release fourth-quarter data for company profits, February figures for vehicle sales and the final score for the manufacturing PMI from Markit Economics.
KOSPI Index rose 5.82 points or 0.29% to 1,991.62, Shanghai Composite increased 9.62 points or 0.29% to 3,319.92, Jakarta Composite gained 18.21 points or 0.33% to 5,468.51, Nikkei 225 jumped 53.69 points or 0.29% to 18,851.63 and Hang Seng was up by 62.06 points or 0.25% to 24,885.35.
On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted decreased 27.58 points or 0.29% to 9,594.52, Straits Times slipped 6.69 points or 0.2% to 3,396.17 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 4.09 points or 0.22% to 1,817.12.