INVESTING.COM – Asian equity markets were mostly up on Thursday after US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's cautious testimony on Wednesday in the US while markets in China got a boost from estimate-beating trade data.
South Korea's Kospi Index put in its best showing in quite some time, rising 1.1% to 2,418.48 by mid-morning. Hong Kong put a similarly strong showing in morning trade, with the Hang Seng Index up 1.08% to 26,330.50. Singapore was also up, with the FTSE Straits Times index up 0.59% to 3,227.90.
The market in Thailand edged up 0.44% to 1,581.88 while the Philippines Stock Exchange PSEi Index in Manila was up 0.19% to 7953.78.
The Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.44% in mid-morning trading to to 3,211.51. The Chinese market got a boost after China reported positive data on exports. June exports rose 11.3% year-on-year and imports increased 17.2%, beating expectations. The trade surplus hit $42.77 billion, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. The technology-heavy Shenzhen market was flat.
The only outlier was Japan's Nikkei Index, which was down 0.15% to 20,067.50 by the lunch break, giving up some early gains.