Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Wednesday as Greece became the first developed economy to default on a loan with the IMF, setting the scene for another day of uneasy action. While an unwelcome milestone for Athens, it came as no surprise to investors after weeks of stop-start talks and the euro only faded a little to $1.1136. The Japanese market is higher as a central bank survey showed big businesses plan to increase capital spending at the fastest pace in a decade, but gains were limited as investors remained cautious on developments in Greece. Among the other Asian markets, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are also higher. Meanwhile, Shanghai is in negative territory and the Hong Kong market is closed for Special Administrative Region Establishment Day.
Nikkei 225 surged 59.35 points or 0.29 % to 20,295.08, Taiwan Weighted gained 75.72 points or 0.81 % to 9,398.74, KOSPI Index added by 22.50 points or 1.08 % to 2,096.70, Straits Times increased 15.36 points or 0.46 % to 3,332.69, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 30.56 points or 1.79 % to 1,737.20 and Jakarta Composite was up by 11.12 points or 0.23 % to 4,921.78.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 17.09 points or 0.40 % to 4,260.13.