Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Wednesday, buoyed by the record closing highs overnight on Wall Street and stronger commodity prices. Crude oil prices were flat in Asian trades after moving modestly lower overnight. The markets in Japan are closed for Labor Thanksgiving Day. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are in positive territory. Bucking the trend, Indonesia and Malaysia are edging lower.
Hang Seng rose 85.45 points or 0.38% to 22,763.52, KOSPI Index gained 7.13 points or 0.36% to 1,990.60, Taiwan Weighted added 35.81 points or 0.39% to 9,169.20, Straits Times increased 14.12 points or 0.50% to 2,836.32, and Shanghai Composite was up by 7.48 points or 0.23% to 3,255.84.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 13.05 points or 0.25% to 5,191.63, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 4.98 points or 0.31% to 1,624.34.