Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Wednesday despite a slip in crude oil prices, which dampened investors' appetite for riskier assets. The biggest jump in Chinese stocks in almost three months petered out as declines by banks and energy producers countered gains by brokerages. Data Wednesday showed an official factory index stood at 50.1, around the line between expansion and contraction, while a non-manufacturing gauge fell more than estimated. However, Japan's Nikkei share average fell on Wednesday and looked set to snap a five-day winning streak, as losses on Wall Street soured sentiment and a stronger yen triggered profit-taking. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan are up with modest gains. Bucking the trend, Hong Kong, and Malaysia are marginally lower.
Shanghai Composite gained 2.16 points or 0.07% to 2,918.78, Straits Times added 2.55 points or 0.09% to 2,793.61, KOSPI Index gained 1.40 points or 0.07% to 1,984.80, Taiwan Weighted increased 57.28 points or 0.67% to 8,592.87, and Jakarta Composite was up by 48.61 points or 1.01% to 4,845.48.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 dropped 125.61 points or 0.73% to 17,109.37, Hang Seng dipped 4.80 points or 0.02% to 20,810.29, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.72 points or 0.04% to 1,625.28.