Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Wednesday despite geopolitical concerns due to tensions on the Korean peninsula, with investors seeking out safe-haven assets such as the Japanese yen and gold. The South Korean defense ministry confirmed that the missile launched by North Korea on Tuesday was an intercontinental ballistic missile. South Korea and the US staged a combined ballistic missile exercise in response to the North's missile launch. Japan's Nikkei share average slipped on heightened tensions following North Korea's ballistic missile launch, while automakers managed to extend gains on encouraging sales. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan are higher. Bucking the trend, Indonesia is lower.
Nikkei 225 gained 20.9 points or 0.1% to 20,053.25, Hang Seng rose 89.84 points or 0.35% to 25,478.85, Straits Times added 17.99 points or 0.56% to 3,229.16, Taiwan Weighted strengthen 15.89 points or 0.15% to 10,363.67, Shanghai Composite increased 7.53 points or 0.24% to 3,190.34, KOSPI Index spurt 3.4 points or 0.14% to 2,383.92, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.62 points or 0.04% to 1,762.70.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 7.55 points or 0.13% to 5,857.82.