Most of the Asian equity indices are trading in the green terrain in Friday’s morning deals after China’s trade data for January handily beat forecasts to underscore a recovery trend. Chinese exports grew 25.0 percent in January from a year ago, the strongest showing since April 2011 and well ahead of market expectations for a 17 percent rise, while imports also beat forecasts, surging 28.8 percent on the year. However, Japanese Nikkei declined by over a percent after posting a back-to-back monthly current-account deficits for the first time in last 28 years. Also, the largest consumer-electronics maker Sony posted an eighth straight quarterly loss.
Shanghai Composite rose 8.29 points or 0.34% to 2,426.82, Hang Seng increased 25.63 points or 0.11% to 23,202.63, KLSE Composite added 2.44 points or 0.15% to 1,622.01, Straits Times jumped 9.37 points or 0.29% to 3,271.14 and KOSPI Composite was up by 18.13 points or 0.94% to 1,949.90.
On the flip side, Jakarta Composite slipped 1.50 points or 0.03% to 4,501.65 and Nikkei 225 was up by 132.58 points or 1.17% to 11,224.49.
Taiwan Weighted remained shut for the trade today.
