MOst of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Friday, following another record close on Wall Street as the likelihood of a US interest rate hike in the near term dwindled. The Japanese market rose despite amid cautious trades, as investors await the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision later in the day. Among the other markets in the Asian region, Shanghai, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore are also in positive territory .Meanwhile, Indonesia and Malaysia are lower.
Nikkei 225 gained 18.39 points or 0.09% to 20,221.26, KOSPI Index soared 15.26 points or 0.72% to 2,138.07, Shanghai Composite spurt 87.60 points or 1.93% to 4,617.02, Hang Seng added 394.55 points or 1.43% to 27,918.27, Straits Times increased 8.28 points or 0.24% to 3,448.14 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 77.02 points or 0.80% to 9,655.58.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 4.33 points or 0.24% to 1,790.71 and Jakarta Composite was down by 7.26 points or 0.14% to 5,305.95.