Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Monday, cheered by a positive report on the Japanese economy, as players awaited a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart later in the week. Though, a negative lead from Wall Street on Friday capped some gains. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks edged up after sharp losses last week, but an upbeat Bank Of Japan survey had only a modestly positive impact on risk appetite amid lingering worries about the outlook for exporters. Among the other Asian markets, China and Taiwan were closed for public holidays.
Nikkei 225 gained 42.90 points or 0.23% to 18,952.16, Hang Seng strengthened 66.85 points or 0.28% to 24,178.44, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 2.48 points or 0.14% to 1,742.57, KOSPI Index increased 6.99 points or 0.32% to 2,167.22, Jakarta Composite spurt 35.21 points or 0.63% to 5,603.31 and Straits Times was up by 7.32 points or 0.23% to 3,182.43. Markets in China and Taiwan are closed for holidays.