Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Friday, shrugging off technology-led declines overnight in the US, as a stronger US dollar boosted export stocks in the region. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is rising, with a weaker yen boosting investor sentiment. Investors are awaiting the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision due later in the day. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan are all up with modest gains. Bucking the trend, Indonesia, Shanghai, and South Korea are lower.
Nikkei 225 added 154 points or 0.78% to 19,985.82, Hang Seng gained 112.54 points or 0.44% to 25,677.88, Straits Times rose 6.61 points or 0.20% to 3,238.70, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.55 points or 0.14% to 1,792.56 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 56.66 points or 0.56% to 10,145.01.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite dropped 30.21 points or 0.52% to 5,746.07, Shanghai Composite decreased 8.07 points or 0.26% to 3,124.42 and KOSPI Index was down by 1.27 points or 0.05% to 2,360.38.