Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading mostly higher on Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street with optimism that Democratic control of the Senate would enable President-elect Joe Biden to implement more fiscal stimulus measures, while a report released by the US Labor Department unexpectedly showing a modest decrease in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week ended January 2. Japanese shares gained with hopes of swift global economic recovery after Democrats win control of the Senate, while upbeat Japanese household spending data also boosted sentiment. However, Chinese shares declined after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including WeChat Pay and Ant Group’s popular Alipay. Trump administration was also considering banning US entities from investing in an expanded list of Chinese companies within the waning days of the presidency.
Straits Times up by 569.84 points or 2.07% to 28,059.97, Hang Seng increased by 339.44 points or 1.23% to 27,887.96, Taiwan Weighted higher 194.81 points or 1.28% to 15,408.81, KOSPI Index widened 95.19 points or 3.14% to 3,126.87, Jakarta Composite added 102.04 points or 1.66% to 6,255.67, and Nikkei 225 enlarged by 569.84 points or 2.07% to 28,059.97.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 Shanghai Composite dipped by 14.26 points or 0.4% to 3,561.94 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped by 2.19 points 0.14% to 1,600.76.
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