10:33 AM EST, 01/04/2023 (MT Newswires) -- Asian equities continued their strong start to the New Year as ecommerce companies led surging American depositary receipts of Asian stocks, which were trading 2.23% higher at 1,527.32 on the S&P Asia 50 ADR Index on Wednesday.

In North Asia, the gainers were led by ecommerce brand management company Baozun (BZUN) and consumer lending firm LexinFintech (LX), which climbed 14% and 11% respectively. They were followed by fintech company Pintec Technology (PT) and e-commerce company JD.com (JD), which rose 9.8% and 9.4% respectively.

The decliners in North Asia were led by polysilicon manufacturer Daqo New Energy (DQ) and travel company Tuniu (TOUR), which lost 5.3% and 2.5% respectively. They were followed by financial product recommendation platform ianpu Technology (JT) and pharmaceutical company Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TAK), which dropped 1.3% and 1.1% respectively.

In South Asia, the gainers were led by biotech firm ASLAN Pharmaceuticals (ASLN) and IT company Sify Technologies (SIFY), which climbed 19% and 4.6% higher respectively. They were followed by telecommunications operator PLDT (PHI) and digital entertainment firm Sea Limited (SE), which rose 4.5% and 2.9% respectively.

The decliners in South Asia were led by automaker Tata Motors (TTM) and IT firm Infosys (INFY), which fell 2% and 1.8% respectively. They were followed by financial services company HDFC Bank (HDB) and IT firm Wipro (WIT), which were off 1.2% and 1.1% respectively.