SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Wednesday morning trade, following an overnight bounce stateside that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising more than 500 points.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.11% in early trade while the Topix index advanced 1.14%.
Japan’s exports rose 48.6% in June as compared with a year earlier, according to data released Wednesday by the country’s Ministry of Finance. That was higher than a 46.2% increase expected by economists in a Reuters poll.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.39% while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia climbed 0.57%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.24% higher.
Looking ahead, Australia’s preliminary retail sales data for June is set to be released at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 549.95 points to 34,511.99. The S&P 500 jumped 1.52% to 4,323.06 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.57% to 14,498.88.
Those gains were a comeback from Monday’s losses, which saw the Dow plunging more than 700 points amid fears that a Covid resurgence could slow the economic recovery.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.97 after seeing levels above 93.1 recently.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.87 per dollar, weaker than levels below 109.5 seen against the greenback earlier in the week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7336, still off levels above $0.742 seen last week.
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.58% to $68.95 per barrel. U.S. crude futures fell 0.68% to $66.74 per barrel.
Here’s a look at what’s on tap:
- Australia: Preliminary retail sales data for June at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN
Source: CNBC