Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Wednesday, supported by gains on Wall Street and growing expectations the dollar may be peaking after a hefty rally since the US election pulled funds out of emerging markets. However, gains are muted in most markets as investors turned cautious due to uncertainty ahead of the highly anticipated OPEC meeting in Vienna later in the day. The Japanese market is advancing, though modestly with a weaker yen lifting investor sentiment. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Taiwan are in positive territory. Bucking the trend, Shanghai, and Malaysia are lower.
Nikkei 225 added 16.66 points or 0.09% to 18,323.70, Hang Seng rose 29.51 points or 0.13% to 22,766.58, Jakarta Composite gained 36.54 points or 0.71% to 5,173.21, Taiwan Weighted jumped 4.00 points or 0.04% to 9,196.38, KOSPI Index surged 1.17 points or 0.06% to 1,979.56, and Straits Times was up by 24.22 points or 0.84% to 2,903.36.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 0.89 points or 0.05% to 1,626.04, and Shanghai Composite was down by 31.52 points or 0.96% to 3,251.40.