Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading higher in the early deals on Tuesday, following the overnight gains on Wall Street and the surge in crude oil prices amid concerns that the US will hit Iran with severe sanctions for its nuclear ambitions. However, crude oil pared gains after US President Donald Trump confirmed he will announce his decision on Iran's nuclear deal later on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei share average rose as tech shares rallied and Takeda Pharmaceutical jumped after a report the drugmaker will make a formal offer to buy Shire for $62 billion. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are also higher. Bucking the trend, Indonesia is lower.
Nikkei 225 gained 63.37 points or 0.28% to 22,530.53, Taiwan Weighted spurt 82.09 points or 0.77% to 10,687.00, Hang Seng jumped 351.69 points or 1.17% to 30,345.95, Straits Times added 12.09 points or 0.34% to 3,544.95, Shanghai Composite rose 28.43 points or 0.91% to 3,165.08, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 12.95 points or 0.71% to 1,841.15, and KOSPI Index up by 4.4 points or 0.18% to 2,465.78.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 116.34 points or 1.98% to 5,768.75.
