Asian equity markets, barring Shanghai Composite are trading higher in the morning deals on Friday, with investors indulging in buying. Some strong earnings reports from the region and bargain hunting after recent losses are also contributing to the positive trend. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped after a preliminary manufacturing index by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics fell to a seven-month low, also as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. dropped after the biggest rally since 2009. Japanese market was trading up tracking positive cues from Wall Street and weakness in yen. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan are trading notably higher. Malaysia is up marginally, while Shanghai is trading weak.
Hang Seng strengthened by 113.91 points or 0.51% to 22,507.99, Jakarta Composite rose 29.86 points or 0.65% to 4,628.08, KLSE Composite increased by 0.38 points or 0.02% to 1,828.19, Nikkei 225 surged by 341.76 points or 2.37% to 14,790.94, Straits Times spurted 17.32 points or 0.56% to 3,103.96, KOSPI Composite 21.06 points or 1.09% to 1,951.63 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 61.43 points or 0.72% to 8,586.05.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 20.65 points or 0.97% to 2,118.13.