Asian markets are exhibiting mixed trend in the early deals on Thursday as investors digested the potential impact of the US Federal Reserve's first interest rate increase this year and as worries about a trade war between the US and China also weighed on investors’ sentiments. Energy and resources stocks advanced on higher crude oil and metal prices. Japan’s Nikkei share average rose in choppy trade despite the yen’s rise, with traders seeing pension funds and retail investors scooping up recently battered stocks with attractive valuations. Though, Stocks in China and Hong Kong fell as investors digested the impact of a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and as concerns over a potential trade war between the world’s largest and second-largest economies intensified. Among the other Asian markets, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia are higher. Bucking the trend, Taiwan and Singapore are in negative territory.
Nikkei 225 added 151.79 points or 0.71% to 21,532.76, Jakarta Composite gained 23.1 points or 0.37% to 6,335.93, KOSPI Index increased 12.19 points or 0.49% to 2,497.16, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI up by 7.31 points or 0.39% to 1,873.11.
On the flip side, Hang Seng dropped 196.47 points or 0.63% to 31,218.05, Shanghai Composite declined 26.64 points or 0.81% to 3,254.31, Taiwan Weighted slipped 15.45 points or 0.14% to 10,995.62, and Straits Times down by 12.51 points or 0.36% to 3,498.62.
