Asian markets settled mostly higher on Thursday tracking overnight rally in Wall Street after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated the central bank might moderate the pace of rate increases as soon as December. Chinese shares gained after two major cities in China announced an easing of Covid curbs in the wake of nationwide rallies calling for an end to lockdowns, boosted expectations that China would reopen its economy soon. While Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said the Omicron variant was weakening and vaccination rates were improving, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. Japanese shares rose after data showed Japanese firms ramped up capital spending at their fastest pace in over four years in the third quarter.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,165.47 | 14.13 | 0.45 |
Hang Seng | 18,736.44 | 139.21 | 0.75 |
Jakarta Composite | 7,020.80 | -60.51 | -0.85 |
KLSE Composite | 1,491.51 | 2.71 | 0.18 |
Nikkei 225 | 28,226.08 | 257.09 | 0.92 |
Straits Times | 3,292.73 | 2.24 | 0.07 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,479.84 | 7.31 | 0.30 |
Taiwan Weighted | 15,012.80 | 133.25 | 0.90 |
