Asian markets mostly positive at Wednesday's close

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Stock markets in Asia closed on Wednesday with gains despite rising cases of the omicron coronavirus variant around the world.

An escalation of tensions between the US and China over the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region also increased geopolitical risk perceptions.

China on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four members of the US' International Religious Freedom Commission in response to Washington adding including two officials of the regional administration on its own sanctions list on the grounds that they had a role in human rights violations in Xinjiang.​​​​​​​

Separately, Japan said it would maintain its current border measures introduced against the omicron variant.

The Asia Dow, which includes the region's blue-chip companies, jumped 11.74 points, or 0.32%, to close at around 3,721 points.

Gaining 44.62 points, or 0.16%, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo hit 28,562.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, climbed 131 points, or 0.57%, to 3,622.

China's Shanghai stock exchange, on the other hand, posted a decrease of 2.51 points, or 0.07%, to 3,625.

The Indian Sensex benchmark gained 389.49 points, or 0.69%, to close at 56,708 points, while the Singapore index diminished 4.44 points, 0.14%, to 3,080.