Most of the Asian markets have made a positive start on better corporate earnings report from US that boosted the outlook for the economy. The Japanese market has surged by over a percent ahead of the Bank of Japan's two-day policy meeting starting today. Korean market too has advanced over a percent as the Bank of Korea is set to consider cutting rates for a second month. Indonesia too will be deciding monetary policy tomorrow and will probably keep interest rates unchanged for a sixth month. Overall, there are hopes in the region that the European Central Bank will soon restart its sovereign bond-buying scheme.

Shanghai Composite was up by 0.26 points or 0.01% to 2,157.88, Hang Seng added 54.49 points or 0.27% to 20,061.94, Jakarta Composite gained 8.20 points or 0.20% to 4,093.86, KLSE Composite was up by 4.12 points or 0.25% to 1,635.19, Nikkei surged by 143.44 points or 1.63% to 8,946.65, Kospi Composite was up by 25.78 points or 1.34% to 1,911.41 and Taiwan Weighted added 31.67 points or 0.45% to 7,328.32.

On the other hand, Straits Times was lone loser, down by 10.55 points or 0.34% to 3,056.90.