Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Friday, with investors on edge ahead of opening trade in China's markets which plunged the previous day. The Japanese market traded higher on hopes of better shareholder returns, looking set to extend its winning streak to 11 straight sessions and its fifth straight month of gains. Among the other markets in the region, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong are marginally higher. Meanwhile, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are down with modest losses.
Nikkei 225 gained 27.23 points or 0.13 % to 20,578.69, Taiwan Weighted increased 2.31 points or 0.02 % to 9,715.15, Hang Seng surged 83.39 points or 0.30 % to 27,537.70, KOSPI Index jumped 7.00 points or 0.33 % to 2,117.89 and Shanghai Composite was up by 5.73 points or 0.12 % to 4,626.00.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite contracted 14.74 points or 0.28 % to 5,222.66, Straits Times declined 19.78 points or 0.58 % to 3,397.99 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 3.70 points or 0.21 % to 1,751.86.