Asian markets are exhibiting mixed trend in the early deals on Friday, as investors adjusted to the Federal Reserve's plan for higher US interest rates. Meanwhile, a stronger US dollar weighed on commodity prices and dragged down resources stocks. Higher US interest rates could also result in dollar outflows from emerging markets towards the US. The Japanese market is extending gains from the previous session following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street and on a weaker yen. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea are up with modest gains. Bucking the trend, Shanghai, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower.
Nikkei 225 jumped 115.67 points or 0.60% to 19,389.46, Straits Times added 3.29 points or 0.11% to 2,934.06, KOSPI Index gained 5.64 points or 0.28% to 2,042.29, and Hang Seng was up by 17.56 points or 0.08% to 22,076.96.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite slipped 12.57 points or 0.24% to 5,241.79, Shanghai Composite dipped 1.19 points or 0.04% to 3,116.48, Taiwan Weighted dropped 17.81 points or 0.19% to 9,342.54, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 3.52 points or 0.22% to 1,633.47.