Asian markets trade mostly higher in early deals on Friday

Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading higher in early deals on Friday tracking cues from Wall Street where the major averages closed on a firm note overnight thanks to some upbeat economic data.  However, gains are just modest in most of the markets in the region, with investors looking ahead to some crucial speeches by top bankers including U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and the ECB President Mario Draghi at the Fed's annual Jackson Hole symposium later in the day. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea and Taiwan are notably higher. Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore are up with modest gains, while Malaysia and Indonesia are down slightly.

Shanghai Composite strengthen by 5.34 points or 0.24% to 2,235.80, KOSPI Index Rose by 10.72 points or 0.52% to 2,054.93, Hang Seng added 79.66 points or 0.32% to 25,073.76, Straits Times surged 4.85 points or 0.15% to 3,328.94 and Taiwan Weighted was up  by 120.10 points or 1.30% to 9,373.48.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225  crumbled by 27.83 points or 0.18% to 15,558.37, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 0.15 points or 0.01% to 1,874.66 and Jakarta Composite was down by 14.26 points or 0.27% to 5,191.87.