Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Wednesday, shrugging off weakness on Wall Street as investors bet that a batch of economic data from China due later in the day would bolster the case for more stimulus in the world's second-largest economy. Among the other markets in the Asian region, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan are in positive territory, but with modest gains. Meanwhile, Shanghai, Indonesia and Malaysia are marginally lower.
Nikkei 225 surged 98.52 points or 0.50% to 19,723.36, Hang Seng added 40.30 points or 0.15% to 27,447.48, KOSPI Index strengthen 13.40 points or 0.64% to 2,110.17, Taiwan Weighted spurt 49.49 points or 0.51% to 9,730.22, Jakarta Composite increased 9.87 points or 0.19% to 5,215.49 and Straits Times was up by 13.80 points or 0.40% to 3,456.13.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 1.15 points or 0.06% to 1,797.46 and Shanghai Composite was down by 6.41 points or 0.15% to 4,394.81.