Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading higher in the early deals on Monday, following the gains on Wall Street Friday as bond yields declined from recent four-year highs and crude oil prices rose to two-week highs. In addition, the Federal Reserve issued its monetary policy report to Congress, with the central bank suggesting a gradual pace of interest rate hikes in 2018. The safe-haven yen weakened and gold prices eased as risk appetite improved. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to near three-week highs with a majority of sectors advancing as investors’ confidence continued to improve after Wall Street shares made steady gains. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Shanghai, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore are higher. Bucking the trend, Indonesia is in negative territory.
Nikkei 225 rose 249.55 points or 1.14% to 22,142.33, Hang Seng jumped 191.98 points or 0.61% to 31,459.15, Taiwan Weighted added 68.34 points or 0.63% to 10,862.89, Shanghai Composite gained 23.74 points or 0.72% to 3,312.77, KOSPI Index spurt 2.44 points or 0.1% to 2,453.96, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.22 points or 0.07% to 1,862.72, and Straits Times up by 15.05 points or 0.43% to 3,548.27
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 7.26 points or 0.11% to 6,612.54.
