Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday as wall street touched record highs overnight after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen painted a largely upbeat picture of the world's largest economy during the first day of her two-day testimony and indicated the central bank could raise short-term interest rates at its next policy meeting in March. Japanese shares rose sharply as the yen's weakness lifted exporters and the prospects of a US rate rise lifted US Treasury yields and helped spur a broad-based rally in banks and insurers. However, Chinese stocks ended lower, as technology and resource stocks took a breather after their recent strong rally.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,212.99 | -4.94 | -0.15 |
Hang Seng | 23,994.87 | 291.86 | 1.23 |
Jakarta Composite | - | - | - |
KLSE Composite | 1,709.79 | 0.89 | 0.05 |
Nikkei 225 | 19,437.98 | 199.00 | 1.03 |
Straits Times | 3,088.48 | 16.01 | 0.52 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,083.86 | 9.29 | 0.45 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,799.76 | 80.98 | 0.83 |