Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Friday despite the negative lead from Wall Street amid concerns about a possible US government shutdown. Optimism about upbeat corporate earnings and global economic growth after China's economic expansion exceeded the government's 2017 target has boosted investors’ sentiments. Meanwhile, China stocks reached fresh two-year highs as banks extended gains and after the country posted its first acceleration in full-year growth in seven years in 2017. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan are all modestly higher. Bucking the trend, Japan and Indonesia are lower.
Hang Seng gained 32.27 points or 0.1% to 32,154.21, KOSPI Index added 2.5 points or 0.1% to 2,518.31, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI spurt 3 points or 0.16% to 1,824.60, Straits Times rose 14.91 points or 0.42% to 3,536.22, Shanghai Composite increased 12.49 points or 0.36% to 3,487.24, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 50.74 points or 0.46% to 11,122.31.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 dropped 10.23 points or 0.04% to 23,753.14, and Jakarta Composite was down by 25.46 points or 0.39% to 6,447.20.
