Asian markets trade mostly higher in early deals on Wednesday

Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Wednesday, with Japanese stocks rising to highs not seen in two weeks, led by exporters and financial stocks as the dollar stood tall against the yen and upbeat US consumer confidence data lifted expectations of a near-term US interest rate hike. Though, some gains were capped due to modest losses on Wall Street. Investors are awaiting for US jobs numbers for further signs the Federal Reserve may raise rates as soon as September. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Indonesia are higher. Bucking the trend, South Korea, and Taiwan are lower. The markets in Malaysia are closed for the National Day holiday.

Nikkei 225 added 157.75 points or 0.94% to 16,883.11, Hang Seng jumped 4.82 points or 0.02% to 23,020.93, Shanghai Composite surged 8.90 points or 0.29% to 3,083.58, Straits Times increased 0.22 points or 0.01% to 2,828.61, and Jakarta Composite was up by 11.92 points or 0.22% to 5,374.24.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted dipped 26.86 points or 0.29% to 9,083.70, and KOSPI Index was down by 6.15 points or 0.30% to 2,033.59.