Asian markets have made a strong start on Friday with some of the indices surging by about two percent in early trade after Federal Reserve chairman nominee Janet Yellen signaled she will continue US stimulus efforts. She said that 'It’s important not to remove support, especially when the recovery is fragile and the tools available to monetary policy, should the economy falter, are limited given that short-term interest rates are at zero'. The Chinese market has taken the lead, gaining over two percent on speculation the government will announce details of policy shifts made at a top-level Communist Party meeting by next week. The Japanese Nikkei 225 Stock Average surge beyond 15,000 for the first time since May and the exporters moved higher as the yen lost 0.3 percent to 100.28 per dollar, extending the biggest weekly drop among 16 major currencies.
Shanghai Composite surged by 48.86 points or 2.33% to 2,149.37, Hang Seng was up by 316.46 points or 1.40% to 22,965.61, KLSE Composite added 4.13 points or 0.23% to 1,788.33, Nikkei 225 surged by 262.81 points or 1.77% to 15,139.22, Straits Times was up by 7.65 points or 0.24% to 3,198.73.Seoul Composite gained 35.79 points or 1.82% to 2,003.35 and Taiwan Weighted gained 58.27 points or 0.72% to 8,193.18.
The lone loser of the pack was Jakarta Composite down by 16.60 points or 0.38% to 4,350.57.
