Asian markets trade mostly higher in early deals on Thursday

12 Dec 2019 Evaluate

Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading higher on Thursday following Federal Reserve 's decision to keep the interest rates steady and signaled that borrowing costs are likely to remain unchanged indefinitely. Market sentiments weighed as head to developments on the US-China trade front is closely watched as a fresh round of US tariffs on Chinese goods are set to kick in on December 15. Japan's Nikkei is in positive lead following positive cues from Wall street overnight. Among the Asian markets, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Taiwan, Singapore South Korea, and Malaysia are in positive lead. Bucking the trend, Indonesia and Shanghai are trading lower.

Nikkei 225 up 64.75 points 0.28% to 23,456.61, Straits Times rose 26.44 points or 0.83% to 3,199.34, Hang Seng lifted 334.90 points or 1.26% to 26,980.33, Taiwan Weighted increased 149.34 points or 1.28% to 11,850.11, KOSPI Index widened 29.49 points or 1.40% to 2,135.11 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI enlarged by 6.64 points or 0.42% to 1,569.83.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite contracted by 9.60 points or 0.16% to 6,170.50 and Shanghai dipped 3.99 points or 0.14% to 2,920.43.

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