Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Thursday following the overnight rally on Wall Street, amid easing concerns over Britain's exit from the European Union. EU leaders continue to urge Britain to act quickly on the vote while expressing hope that the UK will remain a close partner. Meanwhile, Hong Kong stocks extended their bounce tracking global markets as post-Brexit fears eased, but Chinese shares dipped from three-week highs on profit-taking. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia are also higher.
Nikkei 225 gained 129.03 points or 0.83% to 15,695.86, Hang Seng rose 326.28 points or 1.60% to 20,762.40, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI surged 9.95 points or 0.61% to 1,652.16, Taiwan Weighted jumped 68.61 points or 0.80% to 8,655.17, KOSPI Index spurt 13.08 points or 0.67% to 1,969.44, Straits Times added 49.38 points or 1.77 % to 2,842.11, and Jakarta Composite was up by 45.73 points or 0.92% to 5,025.83.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 7.12 points or 0.24% to 2,924.47.