Asian markets trade firm; Nikkei, Hang Seng up

At 8:13 am (IST), Asian markets were trading firm. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.14 percent or 31.59 points at 22,717.64.

Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.53 percent or 74.28 points at 14,216.93.

Singapore's Straits Times was up 0.17 percent or 5.73 points at 3,397.03.

South Korea's Seoul Composite gained 0.31 percent or 6.20 points at 1,986.17.

Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted rose 0.19 percent or 15.91 points at 8,296.01.

However, China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.24 percent or 5.47 points at 2,287.61.