Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Monday despite investors digesting Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's comments that aggressive steps may be required to address the lingering effects of the financial crisis on the US economy. Caution over a slew of Chinese economic data due out this week saw Hong Kong markets slip, but property stocks gained thanks to a strong weekend of sales. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Shanghai, Indonesia, and Taiwan are in positive territory. Bucking the trend, Singapore, and Malaysia are in negative territory.
Nikkei 225 gained 46.17 points or 0.27% to 16,902.54, KOSPI Index rose 9.82 points or 0.49% to 2,032.48, Jakarta Composite added 17.21 points or 0.32% to 5,417.10, Taiwan Weighted surged 10.00 points or 0.11% to 9,175.17, Shanghai Composite was up by 3.90 points or 0.13% to 3,067.71.
On the flip side, Straits Times dipped 3.18 points or 0.11% to 2,812.06, Hang Seng dropped 98.56 points or 0.42% to 23,134.75, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 1.17 points or 0.07% to 1,657.80.