Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Wednesday, following the overnight rally on Wall Street after some weaker than expected economic data spurred optimism that the US Federal Reserve will delay raising interest rates later this week. However, US bond yields rose overnight, indicating that investors are bracing for the Federal Reserve to finally raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. The Fed is scheduled to begin its two-day monetary policy meeting later on Wednesday, with the announcement of its decision due Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, Japanese market is trading higher as investors took confidence from signs of health in the US economy and a rally on Wall Street, while value managers picked up bargains on low price-to-book stocks. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, South Korea, Shanghai, Singapore and Taiwan are also higher. Bucking the trend, Indonesia is down marginally and the markets in Malaysia are closed on Wednesday for Malaysia Day.
Nikkei 225 strengthen 169.34 points or 0.94% to 18,195.82, Hang Seng surged 217.38 points or 1.01% to 21,672.61, Taiwan Weighted gained 73.65 points or 0.89% to 8,333.64, Shanghai Composite increased 4.39 points or 0.15% to 3,009.57, KOSPI Index jumped 37.85 points or 1.95% to 1,975.41 and Straits Times was up by 28.09 points or 0.99% to 2,870.03.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 4.29 points or 0.10% to 4,342.87.