Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Friday, taking their cue from optimism on Wall Street set off by a report showing spending by US consumers growing in July, along with wages and salaries. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei share average edged up, echoing Wall Street gains, but trading was subdued as investors awaited US job data for possible clues on the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are also higher. Bucking the trend, South Korea is lower. The markets in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are closed for Eid-ul-Adha.
Nikkei 225 added 6.99 points or 0.04% to 19,653.23, Shanghai Composite gained 19.13 points or 0.57% to 3,379.94, Hang Seng increased 87.21 points or 0.31% to 28,057.51, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 20.26 points or 0.19% to 10,606.04
On the flip side, KOSPI Index was down by 1.48 points or 0.06% to 2,361.71.