Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Thursday, taking their cues from strong US data although holiday-thinned trade and uncertainty about the impact of recent hurricanes on the US economy are likely to keep investors cautious. Markets in South Korea and China remain closed all week for the Harvest Festival and National Day holidays, respectively. Hong Kong is closed for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore and Taiwan are higher. Bucking the trend, Indonesia and Malaysia are edging lower.
Nikkei 225 added 3.7 points or 0.02% to 20,630.36, Taiwan Weighted gained 56.13 points or 0.54% to 10,525.48, and Straits Times was up by 21.30 points or 0.66% to 3,257.95.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite declined 30.49 points or 0.51% to 5,920.99, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 3.35 points or 0.19% to 1,758.49.