Asian markets gain; Nikkei ends up 140pts

Asian markets were seen holding decent gains in noon trades.

The Nikkei ended with a gain of 140 points at 17,667. The Taiwan Weighted index has rallied 44 points to 8003.

The Hang Seng index is marginally up 13 points at 20,801. The KLSE Composite, Jakarta and Seoul Comoposite indices have moved up around seven odd points each to 1330, 1972 and 1534, respectively.

The Shanghai Composite index has slipped 24 points to 3587, and the Straits Times index is down seven points at 3408.