Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Thursday in cautious trade amid the ongoing political uncertainty in both Europe and the US. Though, Japan's Nikkei share average slipped due to pressure from a stronger yen ahead of a meeting this week between US President Donald Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are all higher. The markets in Malaysia are closed for Thaipusam.
Hang Seng added 90.78 points or 0.39% to 23,575.91, Shanghai Composite jumped 11.86 points or 0.37% to 3,178.84, KOSPI Index rose 5.12 points or 0.25% to 2,070.20, Taiwan Weighted increased 40.08 points or 0.42% to 9,583.33, Jakarta Composite spurt 17.92 points or 0.33% to 5,379.01, and Straits Times was up by 18.95 points or 0.62% to 3,085.48.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 75.61 points or 0.40% to 18,931.99.