CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks posted strong gains on Thursday, with upbeat U.S. economic data and unconfirmed reports of possible medical advances to combat the coronavirus outbreak in China helping underpin investor sentiment.
World Health Organization officials, however, damped down expectations of imminent breakthroughs in the development of vaccines or treatments for the virus outbreak that has claimed more than 563 lives and sparked fears of an economic slowdown in China.
China's Shanghai Composite index rallied 48.42 points, or 1.72 percent, to 2,866.51 after reports that China will halve tariffs on some $75 billion worth of imports from the U.S. this month.
The cut will be effective on Feb. 14 when the U.S. will also implement a reduction in tariffs on Chinese products as part of the phase-one trade deal that was signed last month.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended up 706.96 points, or 2.64 percent, at 27,493.70.
Japanese markets surged as the yen weakened on the back strong U.S. jobs data and Beijing's decision to slash levies on U.S. imports. The Nikkei average climbed 554.03 points, or 2.38 percent, to a two-week high of 23,873.59. The broader Topix index closed 2.07 percent higher at 1,736.98.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp jumped 3.3 percent and Fast Retailing advanced 3.3 percent. Automaker Honda Motor rallied 3 percent and Toyota Motor gained 2.6 percent.
Japan Petroleum added 3.2 percent and Inpex rose 2.6 percent after crude oil prices rose more than 2 percent overnight.
DeNA Co., Nintendo Co.'s mobile partner, plunged 9.7 percent on news the company will book a writedown of 49.4 billion yen and expects to report a loss in the year ending March 2020.
Australian markets rose sharply as higher commodities and oil prices lifted miners and energy companies. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rallied 73.10 points, or 1.05 percent, to 7,049.20, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 67.80 points, or 0.96 percent, at 7,148.70.
Energy stocks such as Origin Energy, Beach Energy, Woodside Petroleum and Santos jumped 1-3 percent as oil extended overnight gains.
Mining giant BHP advanced 1.7 percent and Rio Tinto added 0.7 percent on the back of strength in copper prices. The big four banks rose over 1 percent, with Westpac leading the gainers.
Healthcare stocks continued to rise, with CSL rising 1.6 percent to touch a record high. Property group Mirvac tumbled 3.2 percent as it reported a 5 percent decrease in profit for the first half of the year.
On the economic front, a government report showed that the total value of retail sales in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent sequentially in December.
Another report revealed that Australia had a merchandise trade surplus of A$5.223 billion in December - shy of forecasts for a surplus of A$5.60 billion and down from the downwardly revised A$5.518 billion surplus in November.
The National Australia Bank's business confidence index held stable at -1 point in the fourth quarter, suggesting that firms to do not expect a material turnaround in activity in the near term.
Seoul stocks extended gains for the third day running on the back of encouraging U.S. data and hopes that China's stimulus measures will support growth amid the coronavirus outbreak. The benchmark Kospi soared 62.31 points, or 2.88 percent, to 2,227.94, led by large-cap stocks such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Posco.
South Korea posted a current account surplus of $4.33 billion in December, the Bank of Korea said in a report - down from $5.97 billion in November. The goods account surplus narrowed to $5.03 billion, compared to $6.63 billion in December 2018.
New Zealand's financial markets were closed for a holiday.
U.S. stocks rallied overnight as coronavirus fears abated and encouraging macroeconomic data on private sector employment and service sector activity helped ease growth concerns.
The S&P 500 climbed 1.1 percent to post a record closing high and the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.7 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4 percent.
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