Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Friday despite the lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street. Further, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled an end to further interest rate cuts despite unveiling bold stimulus measures. Overnight, the European Central Bank announced a package of stimulus measures designed to boost the struggling European economy. The ECB reduced its various interest rates by 5 or 10 basis points and expanded its monthly asset purchase program by 20 billion euros. Japanese stocks rose into positive territory as a weaker yen boosted the profit outlook for exporters while a bounce in global oil prices improved risk appetite. Further, investors reassessed the impact of the European Central Bank’s decision to expand stimulus. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia are up with modest gains. Bucking the trend, Shanghai, and Indonesia are marginally lower.
Nikkei 225 added 138.31 points or 0.82% to 16,990.66, Hang Seng increased 188.32 points or 0.94% to 20,172.74, Straits Times gained 11.63 points or 0.41% to 2,820.75, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI jumped 3.54 points or 0.21% to 1,694.45, Taiwan Weighted surged 40.12 points or 0.46% to 8,700.82, and KOSPI Index was up by 5.29 points or 0.27% to 1,974.62.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite dropped 4.61 points or 0.10% to 4,788.59, and Shanghai Composite was down by 3.20 points or 0.11% to 2,801.53.