Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Wednesday as investors digested earnings releases from regional corporates and a resurgent dollar. Meanwhile, China's Shanghai Composite index traded lower after the IMF revised upward its growth forecast for China, but warned the country's debt is on dangerous trajectory. Among the other Asian markets, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia are in positive territory. Bucking the trend, Taiwan, and Singapore are lower.
Nikkei 225 gained 2.13 points or 0.01% to 19,755.44, Hang Seng added 179.28 points or 0.66% to 27,354.24, KOSPI Index increased 12.16 points or 0.52% to 2,346.38, Jakarta Composite rose 18.27 points or 0.31% to 5,853.31, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.7 points or 0.04% to 1,773.09.
On the flip side, Straits Times dropped 31.81 points or 0.97% to 3,263.12, Shanghai Composite dipped 5.95 points or 0.18% to 3,245.31, and Taiwan Weighted was down by 29.06 points or 0.28% to 10,282.10.