Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Thursday with modest gains following the record closing highs overnight on Wall Street and the surge in crude oil prices to their highest level since December 2014. Upbeat economic data from the Asian region also boosted sentiments. Japanese stocks rallied on the first trading day of 2018, with the Topix probing its highest levels since 1991 as securities and oil shares gained. However, shares fell in South Korea despite signs tensions with its rival in North Korea may be easing. Among the other Asian market, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan are all modestly higher. Bucking the trend, Indonesia is lower.
Nikkei 225 jumped 595.93 points or 2.62% to 23,360.87, Straits Times gained 6.41 points or 0.19% to 3,470.69, Hang Seng rose 138.79 points or 0.45% to 30,699.74, Shanghai Composite added 13.79 points or 0.41% to 3,382.90, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 7.36 points or 0.41% to 1,800.15, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 6.43 points or 0.06% to 10,808.00.
On the flip side, KOSPI Index dropped 14.04 points or 0.56% to 2,472.31, and Jakarta Composite was down by 11.87 points or 0.19% to 6,239.61.