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Asian shares followed Wall Street higher on Thursday after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested the pace of interest rate increases might slow.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6 per cent to 2,605.27 and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.9 per cent to 22,378.46. Seoul’s Kospi added 0.5 per cent to 2,118.10.
Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.4 per cent to 5,746.10. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.1 per cent to 26,652.68 while benchmarks in Taiwan, New Zealand and Southeast Asia advanced, reports AP.
US stocks rocketed to their biggest gain in eight months following Powell’s comments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 617 points, 2.5 per cent, to 25,366.43.
The S&P 500 index gained 2.3 per cent to 2,743.79. The Nasdaq composite rose 2.9 per cent to 7,291.59. Tiffany skidded 11.8 per cent after it said foreign tourists didn’t spend as much at its stores in its latest quarter.
Benchmark US crude gained 38 cents to $50.67 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost $1.27 on Wednesday to close at $50.29.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 17 cents to $59.26 in London. The contract lost $1.31 the previous session to close at $59.09.
The dollar declined to 113.43 yen from Thursday’s 113.67 yen. The euro gained to $1.1377 from $1.1368.