SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were largely higher in Wednesday trade, following overnight gains stateside that saw the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rising to a record high.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was among the biggest gainers regionally as it advanced 1.46%. Taiwan’s Taiex also saw robust gains, rising 1.22%.
Mainland Chinese stocks were higher by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite rising 0.46% and the Shenzhen component gained 1.029%.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan was fractionally higher while the Topix index slipped 0.29%.
Minutes from the Bank of Japan’s April monetary policy meeting released Wednesday showed members agreed that stimulus measures, particularly those in advanced economies, could result in a “faster than expected” pace of recovery for Japan and other countries.
South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.39% higher. Meanwhile, shares in Australia declined as the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.49%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.73% higher.
Tech shares mixed
Technology shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Wednesday trade.
Hong Kong-listed Chinese tech stocks were largely higher, with Alibaba rising 1.87% and Baidu jumping 2.12%. NetEase shares, however, fell 0.78%. The broader Hang Seng TECH index rose 1.87%.
In Japan, shares of conglomerate SoftBank Group rose 0.19% while South Korea’s Naver surged 7.16%.
Those moves came after the Nasdaq Composite touched a new intraday record overnight on Wall Street, climbing 0.79% on the day to 14,253.37.
The S&P 500 also gained 0.51% to 4,246.44 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 68.61 points to 33,945.58.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.847 following an earlier low of 91.719.
The Japanese yen changed hands at 110.75 per dollar, having weakened from below 110 against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7543, staying above the $0.752 level that it has traded around for much of the trading week so far.
Oil prices nudged higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.59% to $75.25 per barrel. U.S. crude futures gained 0.45% to $73.18 per barrel.
Source: CNBC