Asian markets largely defy negative Wall Street lead

Major Asian markets mostly shrugged off a negative lead from Wall Street on Thursday, with Shanghai performing especially strongly and Japan Post shares soaring again in Tokyo. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed 1.00 percent up, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was flat in afternoon trading. China's ruling Communist Party issued guidelines for its 2016-2020 development plan on Tuesday, including calling for liberalisation in its capital markets and foreign ex