Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Friday as the Thanksgiving break in the United States helped slow a relentless surge in the dollar that has sucked capital out of most emerging markets. Japan's Nikkei share average rose for a seventh straight session after the dollar jumped further against the yen, lifting prospects for better corporate earnings. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan are all in positive territory. Bucking the trend, Shanghai is lower.
Nikkei 225 gained 18.77 points or 0.10% to 18,352.18, Hang Seng rose 82.00 points or 0.36% to 22,690.49, Jakarta Composite added 5.34 points or 0.10% to 5,112.96, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.26 points or 0.02% to 1,624.47, Taiwan Weighted jumped 16.79 points or 0.18% to 9,168.90, KOSPI Index surged 0.56 points or 0.03% to 1,971.82, and Straits Times was up by 23.56 points or 0.83% to 2,867.28.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 4.10 points or 0.13% to 3,237.64.