Asian markets trade mixed in early deals on Thursday

The Asian equity benchmarks are trading mixed in the early deals on Thursday, with some of the indices trading higher taking the positive cues overnight from Wall Street and the rebound in crude oil prices that lifted investor sentiment. However, gains are muted in most markets after crude oil prices once again declined slightly in Asian trades. Japanese stocks rose as sentiment improved following a bounce in oil prices that helped Wall Street to rally as fears of banks' exposure to energy companies struggling to pay debt receded. Meanwhile, Stocks in China tumbled led by small-caps, as investors took profits from a solid rebound over the past month and awaited policy messages from Chinese and other global leaders gathering in Shanghai for a G20 meeting. Among the other Asian markets, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are all in positive territory. Bucking the trend, Hong Kong and South Korea is lower.

Nikkei 225 surged 166.53 points or 1.05% to 16,082.32, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI spurt 1.07 points or 0.06% to 1,665.24, Straits Times jumped 1.16 points or 0.04% to 2,621.12, Jakarta Composite added 8.47 points or 0.18% to 4,666.19, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 68.65 points or 0.83% to 8,351.51.

On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 311.08 points or 1.60% to 19,103.70, Shanghai Composite dropped 105.83 points or 3.61% to 2,823.06, and KOSPI Index was down by 2.28 points or 0.12% to 1,910.25.