Stocks in Asia Pacific were higher in Thursday morning trade on the back of an overnight surge on Wall Street as optimism over the reopening of economies buoyed investor sentiment.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.17% as shares of index heavyweight Fast Retailing surged 2.37%. The Topix index also advanced 0.93%. South Korea's Kospi also added 0.64%.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.81%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.29% higher.
Rising U.S.-China tensions
Developments on U.S.-China relations likely continued to be monitored by investors, as tensions between the two economic powerhouses mount.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress on Wednesday that Hong Kong was no longer autonomous from China, raising questions over the special administrative region's favorable trade relationship with the U.S. as well as opening up the possibility of sanctions on Chinese officials. Pompeo's comments came following the proposal of a national security law from Beijing that has spurred protests in Hong Kong.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday also passed legislation condemning China for the detention and torture of Uighur Muslims in the country's western region of Xinjiang.
Stocks stateside saw an overnight surge on Wall Street as optimism over the reopening of economies buoyed investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 553.16 points, or 2.2%, to 25,548.27 — its first close above 25,000 since March. The S&P 500 finished its trading day 1.5% higher at 3,036.13 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8% to close at 9,412.36.
Oil prices drop
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures declining 2.01% to $34.04 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also fell 2.86% to $31.87 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 98.918 after seeing levels above 99.2 earlier.
The Japanese yen traded at 107.79 per dollar after weakening from levels below 107.6 yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6619 after dropping from levels above $0.665 yesterday.
What's on tap for Thursday:
- South Korea: Bank of Korea interest rate decision at 9:00 a.m HK/SIN
— CNBC's Tucker Higgins contributed to this report.
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May 28, 2020 at 07:17AM
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Asia Pacific stocks rise as U.S.-China tensions ramp up - CNBC
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