Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Tuesday after US stocks rose overnight as investors shrugged off geopolitical concerns, while the US dollar strengthened following comments by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Nevertheless, weak commodity prices weighed on resources stocks. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei stock index took its cue from a rebound in US shares and a weaker yen, pulling away from its recent five-month lows. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia are also higher. Bucking the trend, Hong Kong, and Shanghai are lower.
Nikkei 225 gained 49.26 points or 0.27% to 18,404.52, KOSPI Index added 1.07 points or 0.05% to 2,146.83, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.22 points or 0.24% to 1,738.15, Taiwan Weighted rose 25.96 points or 0.27% to 9,742.36, Jakarta Composite spurt 43.65 points or 0.78% to 5,621.14, and Straits Times was up by 6.88 points or 0.22% to 3,145.18.
On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 222.21 points or 0.92% to 24,039.45 and Shanghai Composite was down by 3.64 points or 0.11% to 3,218.52.