Most of the Asian markets are trading higher on Friday, as Chinese fourth quarter growth data came out slightly better than expected, while Japanese stocks soared following a marked overnight decline in the yen. Regional markets, after a yesterday’s selloff, were reacting to China’s gross domestic product growth figures for the fourth quarter, which showed a 7.9% on-year rise compared with expectations of a 7.8% rise. The data release also included industrial production figures, which increased by 10.3% in December.
Shanghai Composite rose 12.78 points or 0.56% to 2,297.69, Hang Seng surged 174.34 points or 0.75% to 23,514.10, Jakarta Composite soared 42.31 points or 0.96% to 4,440.69, Nikkei 225 jumped 264.16 points or 2.49% to 10,873.80, Straits Times increased 14.92 points or 0.47% to 3,210.02, KOSPI Composite added 6.64 points or 0.34% to 1,980.91 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 77.32 points or 1.02% to 7,693.96
KLSE Composite was down 2.17 points or 0.13% to 1,678.92.
