SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks rose in trading Wednesday morning after rising overnight in the states where the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 500 points.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 led the region’s major markets as it rose 1.3% while the Topix index rose 1.42%.
Japan’s exports rose 48.6% year over year in June, according to data released by the country’s Treasury Department on Wednesday. That was more than a 46.2% increase expected by economists in a Reuters poll.
Mainland China stocks were also higher as the Shanghai Composite gained 0.75% while the Shenzhen stake rose 0.995%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.19%.
Elsewhere, the S&P / ASX 200 in Australia rose 1.22%.
Australian retail sales fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.8% in June compared to the previous month, preliminary retail sales data from the country’s Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday.
Following this data release, the Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7319, still outside the over $ 0.742 level reached last week.
South Korea’s Kospi lagged behind, losing 0.17%.
MSCI’s broadest index for Asia Pacific stocks outside of Japan traded 0.37% higher.
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Overnight in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 549.95 points to 34,511.99. The S&P 500 was up 1.52% to 4,323.06 while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.57% to 14,498.88.
Those gains were a comeback after Monday’s losses that saw the Dow tumble more than 700 points on fears that a Covid resurgence could slow economic recovery.
Currencies and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its competitors, hit 93 after hitting above 93.1 recently.
The Japanese yen was trading at 109.88 per dollar, below the 109.5 levels seen against the greenback earlier in the week.
Oil prices were lower on the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures falling 0.4% to $ 69.07 a barrel. US crude oil futures fell 0.48% to $ 66.88 a barrel.
