Asian markets trade higher in early deals on Thursday

Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve overnight raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in almost a decade, marking the end of the central bank's unprecedented zero interest rate policy. Citing the economic outlook and the time it takes for policy actions to take effect, the Fed raised the target range for the federal funds rate to 0.25 to 0.50 percent, marking the first interest rate increase since 2006. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks rallied after the US Federal Reserve announced a gradual tightening cycle with its first rate hike in nearly a decade, boosting sentiment and risk appetite enough for investors to shrug off worse-than-expected Japan export data for November where exports fell 3.3 percent from a year earlier.

Nikkei 225 gained 350.33 points or 1.84% to 19,400.24, Hang Seng increased 205.14 points or 0.95% to 21,906.35, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI surged 14.29 points or 0.87% to 1,648.42, KOSPI Index spurt 2.05 points or 0.10% to 1,971.45, Shanghai Composite strengthen 52.50 points or 1.49% to 3,568.68, Taiwan Weighted added 92.30 points or 1.13% to 8,276.96, Straits Times jumped 21.51 points or 0.76% to 2,862.43, and Jakarta Composite was up by 56.55 points or 1.26% to 4,540.00.