Asian equity benchmarks are trading higher in the early deals on Friday, tracking the overnight surge in crude oil prices and the gains on Wall Street after minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting reinforced the view that the central bank may delay its first interest rate hike into next year. The markets in South Korea and Taiwan are closed on Friday in observance of Hangeul Day and National Day, respectively.
Nikkei 225 surged 224.05 points or 1.24% to 18,365.22, Hang Seng added 383.45 points or 1.72% to 22,738.36, Straits Times jumped 56.12 points or 1.90% to 3,003.15, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 17.10 points or 1.01% to 1,709.30, Shanghai Composite gained 21.90 points or 0.70% to 3,165.26 and Jakarta Composite was up by 113.07 points or 2.52% to 4,604.51.