Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading in green in the early deals on Friday, the last trading before Christmas, following the positive lead from Wall Street on optimism about the economic impact of the recently passed US tax bill and upbeat economic data. In addition, resources stocks got a boost from higher commodity prices. Japan’s Nikkei share average almost flat as gains in commodities trading houses offset weakness in drugmakers, while Kobe Steel stumbled after it said senior executives were aware of data tampering. The Hong Kong market rose in subdued trading ahead of the Christmas holidays. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Shanghai, and Malaysia are higher. Bucking the trend, Indonesia is lower.
Hang Seng added 77.72 points or 0.26% to 29,444.78, Straits Times increased 11.41 points or 0.34% to 3,393.94, Taiwan Weighted gained 10.61 points or 0.1% to 10,499.58, KOSPI Index spurt 9.69 points or 0.4% to 2,439.52, Shanghai Composite increased 3.75 points or 0.11% to 3,303.81, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.55 points or 0.03% to 1,751.76.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 declined 1.07 points to 22,865.03, and Jakarta Composite was down by 11.8 points or 0.19% to 6,171.59.