Most of the Asian market indices are trading higher in early deals on Friday on the late-stage recovery on US stocks overnight in a volatile session. Though, some gains were capped as investors remained cautious amid lingering concerns about the global economic outlook, higher interest rates and the ongoing US government shutdown. The Japanese market is declining despite the late-stage recovery on Wall Street, as investors booked profits after two straight days of gains and also digested a raft of mixed local economic data. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, and Shanghai are higher. Bucking the trend, Malaysia is in negative territory.
Hang Seng added 23.99 points or 0.09% to 25,502.87, Straits Times gained 22.17 points or 0.73% to 3,066.91, Taiwan Weighted improved 34.01 points or 0.35% to 9,675.57, Shanghai Composite increased 3.81 points or 0.15% to 2,486.90, KOSPI Shares rose 16.83 points or 0.83% to 2,045.27, and Jakarta Composite up by 13.33 points or 0.22% to 6,203.97.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 dropped 56.82 points or 0.28% to 20,020.80, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI down by 0.04 points to 1,690.68.
