Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday tracking Wall Street’s gains overnight after US President Donald Trump denied plans to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, helping ease Fed independence fears. Japanese shares advanced, led by technology shares and ahead of a closely watched upper house election on Sunday, while weakening yen also bolstered sentiment. On the economic data front, Japan posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of 153.1 billion yen in June, the Ministry of Finance said. That was shy of estimates for a surplus of a surplus of 353.9 billion yen following the downwardly revised 638.6 billion yen deficit in May (originally a 637.6 billion yen shortfall). Exports were down 0.5 percent on year, missing forecasts for a gain of 0.5 percent after sinking 1.7 percent in the previous month.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,516.83 | 13.05 | 0.37 |
| Hang Seng | 24,498.95 | -18.81 | -0.08 |
| Jakarta Composite | 7,287.02 | 95.00 | 1.30 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,520.94 | 9.44 | 0.62 |
| Nikkei 225 | 39,901.19 | 237.79 | 0.60 |
| Straits Times | 4,161.43 | 29.18 | 0.70 |
| KOSPI Composite | 3,192.29 | 5.91 | 0.19 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 23,113.28 | 70.38 | 0.30 |
