Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading in green in the early deals on Thursday and oil prices were steady, despite a second straight day of losses on Wall Street overnight. Other than on-going worries about the prospect of the US tax reform plan and the pace of the Federal Reserve's rate hike, there were little market-moving headlines. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei share average rose as buyers stepped back in for bargains following six straight days of losses, with SoftBank gaining after a report that it plans to invest as much as $25 billion in Saudi Arabia. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are also higher. Bucking the trend, Malaysia, Shanghai and Singapore are modestly lower.
Nikkei 225 added 219.13 points or 0.99% to 22,247.45, Hang Seng gained 153.31 points or 0.53% to 29,005.00, Jakarta Composite rose 55.38 points or 0.93% to 6,027.70, Taiwan Weighted increased 22.52 points or 0.21% to 10,653.17, and KOSPI Index was up by 10.35 points or 0.41% to 2,528.60.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 3.43 points or 0.1% to 3,399.10, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 2.29 points or 0.13% to 1,720.70, and Straits Times was down by 13.97 points or 0.41% to 3,354.73.