Asian equity benchmarks are trading mostly higher in the early deals on Thursday, following the overnight gains on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged as expected. Optimism about economic and corporate earnings growth also lifted investors’ sentiments. Japan’s Nikkei share average rose, rebounding from a six-day losing streak and pushing most sectors into positive territory, as a weaker yen and corporate earnings helped drive the benchmark index higher. Though, Chinese equities weakened again following another muted manufacturing reading, weighing on Hong Kong stocks. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan are higher. Markets in Malaysia will be closed for Federal Territory Day.
Nikkei 225 rose 280.5 points or 1.21% to 23,378.79, Taiwan Weighted added 69.07 points or 0.62% to 11,172.86, Jakarta Composite spurt 43.89 points or 0.66% to 6,649.52, Straits Times gained 0.22 points or 0.01% to 3,534.21, and KOSPI Index was up by 3.65 points or 0.14% to 2,570.11.
On the flip side, Hang Seng dropped 143.48 points or 0.44% to 32,743.79, and Shanghai Composite was down by 38.63 points or 1.11% to 3,442.21.
