All the Asian markets barring Shanghai Composite are trading in green terrain on Friday as investors’ concerns over geopolitical risks eased on looming trade talks between the U.S. and China and the leaders of North and South Korea meeting Friday. The Japanese stock market is extending gains on Friday from the previous session following the overnight rally on Wall Street and on upbeat Japanese industrial output data in March. Investors are also digesting a raft of Japanese economic data and looking ahead to the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision due later in the day. The central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at -0.10 percent.
Jakarta Composite rose 0.73 points or 0.01% to 5,909.93, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 8.82 points or 0.48% to 1,861.09, KOSPI Index gained 14.83 points or 0.6% to 2,490.47, Taiwan Weighted jumped 33.67 points or 0.32% to 10,522.25, Hang Seng added 83.92 points or 0.28% to 30,091.60 and Nikkei 225 up by 100.16 points or 0.45% to 22,419.77.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 18.68 points or 0.61% to 3,056.35.
