Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading higher in the early deals on Thursday, with energy stocks among the leading gainers following the surge in crude oil prices after US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. Oil prices further advanced in Asian trades. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei share average edged up with risk sentiment supported by gains on Wall Street and steady dollar-yen levels, while Toyota extended its gains the day after publishing full-year results. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Shanghai, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are also higher. Bucking the trend, Singapore is modestly lower. The markets in Indonesia and Malaysia are closed.
Nikkei 225 added 75.29 points or 0.34% to 22,484.17, Hang Seng rose 269.74 points or 0.88% to 30,805.88, Taiwan Weighted gained 50.21 points or 0.47% to 10,753.56, KOSPI Index increased 7.01 points or 0.29% to 2,450.99 and Shanghai Composite up by 5.96 points or 0.19% to 3,165.11.
On the flip side, Straits Times down by 4.17 points or 0.12% to 3,544.37.
