CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Thursday following the overnight rally on Wall Street as new U.S. economic data added to investor optimism about a quick recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Hopes of more stimulus measures also lifted stocks.
The European Central Bank's policy decision is due later today. Economists expect the ECB to boost the pandemic emergency purchase program by 500 billion euros, bringing it to 1.25 trillion euros.
The Australian market is extending its winning streak to a fourth day following the overnight rally on Wall Street. Investor sentiment also received a boost after the Australian government unveiled a A$688 million Homebuilder program that will provide grants to people signing contracts to build or renovate homes and also help companies in the ailing construction sector.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is advancing 91.00 points or 1.53 percent to 6,032.60, off a high of 6,040.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is adding 87.30 points or 1.44 percent to 6,152.20. Australian stocks closed higher for a third day on Wednesday.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are rising almost 4 percent each, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are higher by more than 3 percent each.
Westpac said an investigation into its money laundering and child exploitation scandal found that the failures occurred due to a combination of human and technology error, and not intentional wrongdoing.
In the oil sector, Santos and Woodside Petroleum are advancing more than 1 percent each, while Oil Search is adding almost 1 percent after crude oil prices rose more than 1 percent overnight.
Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is adding 0.5 percent and BHP is edging up 0.1 percent, while Fortescue Metals is down 0.2 percent.
Gold miners are weak after gold prices fell to a more than three-week low overnight. Newcrest Mining is losing almost 4 percent and Evolution Mining is declining more than 2 percent.
On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Australia had a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$8.800 billion in April, down 16 percent on month. That exceeded expectations for a surplus of A$7.5 billion, following the downwardly revised A$10.44 billion surplus in March.
Exports were down 11.0 percent on month following the downwardly revised 13.9 percent increase in the previous month, while imports sank 10.0 percent on month after losing a revised 3.6 percent a month earlier.
The total value of retail sales in Australia tumbled by a seasonally adjusted 17.7 percent on month in April, coming in at A$24.791 billion. That was slightly better than expectations for a decline of 17.9 percent following the 8.5 percent increase in March.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar on Thursday. The local unit was quoted at $0.6916, compared to Wednesday's close of $0.6937.
The Japanese market is also rising for a fourth straight day, while the safe-haven yen weakened, buoyed by the overnight gains on Wall Street.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 193.00 points or 0.85 percent to 22,806.76, after touching a high of 22,907.92 in early trades. Japanese shares hit over three-month highs on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is advancing almost 3 percent and Fast Retailing is adding 0.6 percent.
The major exporters are higher on a weaker yen. Sony is rising more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is higher by more than 1 percent, while Canon and Panasonic are advancing almost 1 percent each.
In the tech space, Advantest is higher by almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is up more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is advancing more than 2 percent and Honda Motor is adding more than 1 percent.
In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum is gaining more than 2 percent, while Inpex is edging down 0.1 percent after crude oil prices rose more than 1 perent overnight.
Among the major gainers, Sky Perfect JSAT Holdings is rising more than 5 percent, Toyo Seikan Group is higher by almost 4 percent and Seiko Epson is advancing more than 3 percent.
On the flip side, Dentsu Group is losing more than 3 percent, while Astellas Pharma, Takeda Pharmaceutical and Dena Co. are lower by more than 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 108 yen-range on Thursday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia are also higher, while Shanghai, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong are modestly lower.
On Wall Street, stocks rallied on Wednesday, extending the recent upward trend, as new economic data added to investor optimism about a quick recovery, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing the pace of private sector job losses slowed by much more than anticipated in the month of May. A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management also showed the pace of contraction in the service sector slowed by even more than economists had been expecting.
The Dow surged up 527.24 points or 2.1 percent to 26,269.89, the Nasdaq advanced 74.54 points or 0.8 percent to 9,682.91 and the S&P 500 jumped 42.05 points or 1.4 percent to 3,122.87.
The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on Wednesday. While the German DAX Index spiked by 3.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index soared by 3.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index shot up by 2.6 percent.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday on reports the OPEC+ will likely extend production cuts by another month. WTI crude for July ended up $0.48 or about 1.3 percent at $37.29 a barrel, the best closing level for a front-month contract since March 6.
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