Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Thursday, following the strong positive cues overnight from Wall Street and European markets. Data showing that the slowdown in Chinese manufacturing activity is stabilizing also boosted investor sentiment. The Caixin-Markit China manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 47.2 in September, the lowest since March 2009, from 47.3 in August, coming in stronger than the preliminary reading of 47.0. The Purchasing Managers' Index rose from 49.7 in August to 49.8 last month, signaled a slight moderation in the industry's contraction. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is extending gains from the previous session, tracking the strong gains overnight on Wall Street and in European markets. Investors shrugged off the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey results, which showed that business sentiment in Japan weakened in the third quarter of 2015. The markets in China and Hong Kong are closed on Thursday for National Day.
Nikkei 225 gained 371.05 points or 2.13% to 17,759.20, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI surged 5.60 points or 0.35% to 1,626.64, Taiwan Weighted jumped 114.39 points or 1.40% to 8,295.63, KOSPI Index added 19.34 points or 0.99% to 1,982.15, Jakarta Composite increased 38.78 points or 0.92% to 4,262.69 and Straits Times was up by 25.61 points or 0.92% to 2,816.50.