Asian markets are trading mostly in green in early deals on Friday after US stocks slid amid mounting trade tensions. US benchmarks fell after the Trump administration said it is imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from Europe, Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei share average edged higher in choppy trade as a weaker yen alleviated the impact to investor sentiment from the US move to impose tariffs on metal imports from ally trading partners. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan are also higher. Bucking the trend, Shanghai and Hong Kong are lower. The markets in Malaysia and Indonesia are closed in observance of the King's Birthday and Pancasila Day, respectively.
Nikkei 225 added 19.11 points or 0.09% to 22,220.93, KOSPI Index gained 14.9 points or 0.61% to 2,437.91, Taiwan Weighted spurt 67.68 points or 0.62% to 10,942.64, and Straits Times up by 0.84 points or 0.02% to 3,429.02.
On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 51.2 points or 0.17% to 30,417.36, and Shanghai Composite down by 16.31 points or 0.53% to 3,079.16.
