Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Wednesday, with investors focused on Thursday's vote on Britain's possible withdrawal from the European Union and after relief over US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's statement that the Fed would remain cautious in raising interest rates. However, the Japanese market has declined, as investors turned cautious ahead of the UK's referendum on Thursday whether to remain in the European Union. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Shanghai, Singapore, South Korea and Indonesia are in positive territory. The markets in Malaysia are closed for Nuzul Al-Quran.
Hang Seng gained 71.93 points or 0.35% to 20,740.37, Taiwan Weighted spurt 2.93 points or 0.03% to 8,687.78, Jakarta Composite rose 14.10 points or 0.29% to 4,892.82, Shanghai Composite added 12.83 points or 0.45% to 2,891.39, KOSPI Index increased 8.76 points or 0.44% to 1,991.46, and Straits Times was up by 18.81 points or 0.67% to 2,808.26.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 90.54 points or 0.56% to 16,078.57.