SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific rose in early trade on Wednesday, as Wall Street sailed to record highs on the back of a $1 trillion infrastructure plan passed by the U.S. Senate. Oil prices, meanwhile, continued climbing after rising more than 2% on Tuesday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.68%, while the Topix jumped 0.8%. South Korea’s Kospi was just above the flatline.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia was up 0.45%.
Singapore’s trade and industry ministry said Wednesday that the economy grew 14.7% in the second quarter as compared with a year ago, better than official advance estimates of a 14.3% expansion. The country also expects its economy to grow between 6% and 7% in 2021, an upgrade from past projections of 4% to 6%.
Stocks on Wall Street shot to new records, boosted by the Senate’s passing of a $1 trillion infrastructure package.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 162.82 points to 35,264.67 to close at a record. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 4,436.75 and closed at a fresh all-time high.
The Senate’s infrastructure plan, which includes $550 billion in new spending on transportation and broadband, is expected to help give the economy a boost as peak growth slows following the reopening from the pandemic.
Oil continues climbing
After spiking more than 2% on Tuesday, oil prices continued to rise on Wednesday morning. Brent crude futures advanced 0.2% to $70.77 per barrel. U.S. crude futures gained 0.26% to $68.46 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, rose to 93.103, from levels above 92.9 yesterday.
The Japanese yen traded at 110.62, weaker than levels around 110.4 the day before.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7341, a touch higher than levels above $0.733 seen yesterday.
— CNBC’s Yen Nee Lee, Maggie Fitzgerald and Tanaya Macheel contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC