Asian equity indices are exhibiting mixed trend in Friday’s morning deals. The Bank of Japan’s liquidity injections and Wall Street’s record-high close overnight continued to underpin investor confidence. However, the gains remain capped as signs of tensions in the Korean peninsula dented the investors’ sentiments. Nikkei remained lower by about a percent as the market took a breather after a recent run of gains to an almost five-year high while, South Korean shares declined with auto plays and shipbuilders leading losses on concerns about weak earnings that offset positive US labour data.
Shanghai Composite rose 0.47 points or 0.02% to 2,220.02, Hang Seng jumped 38.23 points or 0.17% to 22,139.50, Jakarta Composite increased 14.51 points or 0.29% to 4,938.77 and Straits Times was up by 2.55 points or 0.08% to 3,311.35.
On the flip side, KLSE Composite declined 5.16 points or 0.30% to 1,701.88, Nikkei 225 dropped 117.55 points or 0.87% to 13,431.61, KOSPI Composite slipped 9.97 points or 0.51% to 1,939.83 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 32.17 points or 0.41% to 7,825.81.