Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Thursday, with investors indulging in some bargain hunting after recent weakness and as higher commodity prices lifted resource stocks. The strong lead overnight from Wall Street and optimism about Greece boosted sentiment. The Japanese market gained on hopes that the European market for Japanese exports will improve as Greece inched closer to reaching cash-for-reform deal with its creditors. Among other Asian markets, South Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore are also higher with modest gains. While, Shanghai, Malaysia and Taiwan are marginally down.
Nikkei 225 increased 256.55 points or 1.28% to 20,302.91, Hang Seng surged 236.23 points or 0.89% to 26,923.87, Jakarta Composite rose 2.89 points or 0.06% to 4,936.44, Straits Times added by 18.52 points or 0.56% to 3,344.29 and KOSPI Index was up by 5.49 points or 0.27% to 2,056.81.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite contracted 9.66 points or 0.19% to 5,096.37, Taiwan Weighted declined 6.77 points or 0.07% to 9,291.73 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.91 points or 0.05 % to 1,734.72.