Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Monday, despite of downbeat session on Wall Street, while the euro skidded to a fresh 12-year low on divergent monetary policy paths between the United States and the euro zone. Further, Japanese stocks edged up to hit a 15-year high, with financial and real estate companies leading the gains, as investors bet on steady improvement in the Japanese economy and increased shareholder returns. Among the other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher with modest gains. Taiwan is in negative territory.
Nikkei 225 gained 6.40 points or 0.03% to 19,260.65, Hang Seng surged 117.54 points or 0.49% to 23,940.75, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI jumped 2.52 points or 0.14% to 1,784.27, KOSPI Index rose 4.78 points or 0.24% to 1,990.57, Shanghai Composite improved by 61.40 points or 1.82% to 3,434.31, Jakarta Composite strengthen 20.06 points or 0.37% to 5,446.52 and Straits Times was up by 19.50 points or 0.58% to 3,382.27.
On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted was down by 34.35 points or 0.38% to 9,542.97.