Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading in green in the early deals on Tuesday, the first trading day of 2018, as investors are taking support from upbeat China manufacturing PMI data for the month of December. Sentiments were also boosted after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he is open to talks with South Korea. China Caixin manufacturing PMI showed a December reading of 51.5, beating expectations and also touching a four-month high. Meanwhile, Japanese markets were closed on account of a bank holiday. Among the Asian markets, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan are higher. Bucking the trend, Malaysia is in negative territory.
Shanghai Composite added 35.81 points or 1.08% to 3,342.98, Hang Seng spurt 502.11 points or 1.68% to 30,421.26, Jakarta Composite rose 82.41 points or 1.3% to 6,438.07, KOSPI Index increased 12.06 points or 0.49% to 2,479.55, Straits Times gained 12.80 points or 0.38% to 3,415.72, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 41.32 points or 0.39% to 10,684.18.
On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 16.88 points or 0.94% to 1,779.93.