Most of the Asian markets are trading in green in early deals on Wednesday, following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street as investors shrugged off an escalation in trade tensions between the United States and China. China responded by saying it will go ahead with plans to increase tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei extended its gains to near eight-month highs as investors took heart from a strong performance in Wall Street with financial stocks rallying after US yields jumped. Investors are looking ahead to the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision due later in the day. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Shanghai, Indonesia and Malaysia are higher. Bucking the trend, South Korea is in negative territory.
Nikkei 225 rose 308.00 points or 1.30% to 23,728.54, Hang Seng surged 263.48 points or 0.96% to 27,348.14, Shanghai Composite spurt 26.32 points or 0.97% to 2,726.27, Taiwan Weighted jumped 89.98 points or 0.83% to 10,850.19, Straits Times gained 18.65 points or 0.59% to 3,157.99, Jakarta Composite added 57.44 points or 0.98% to 5,869.23, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI up by 9.53 points or 0.53% to 1,802.13.
On the flip side, KOSPI Index down by 1.98 points or 0.09% to 2,307.00.
