Asian equity benchmarks are exhibiting mixed trend in early deals on Friday as investors remained on sidelines ahead of the release of the US Labor Department’s monthly jobs report for the December later in the day. Moreover, release of Chinese trade data that indicates slowing growth momentum in the world’s second-largest economy too weighed on sentiments. China reported a merchandise trade surplus of $25.64 billion in December, that was well shy of forecasts for a surplus of $32.15 billion, and down sharply from the $33.80 billion surplus in November.
Hang Seng rose 72.04 points or 0.32% to 22,859.37, Jakarta Composite surged 20.63 points or 0.49% to 4,221.85, Nikkei 225 increased 8.92 points or 0.06% to 15,889.25, Straits Times added 3.59 points or 0.11% to 3,149.00 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 21.53 points or 0.25% to 8,536.21.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 10.01 points or 0.49% to 2,017.61, KLSE Composite decreased 1.66 points or 0.09% to 1,826.55 and Seoul Composite was down by 11.67 points or 0.60% to 1,934.44.