Asia shares rise as Wall Street on track to end loss streak
TOKYO (AP) — Asian benchmarks mostly rose Thursday, as investor optimism got a perk from a rally on Wall Street that's on track to break a three-week losing streak.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 2.3% to finish at 28,065.28. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.8% to 6,848.70. South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.3% to 2,382.88. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.8% to 18,897.29, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 3,239.64.
Somewhat reassuring to market watchers was Japan's revised seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product, or GDP, for the second quarter, which was revised upward to an annual rate of 3.5% growth, better than the initial estimate at 2.2%.
Data showed private consumption and business spending are holding up in the world's third-largest economy, which has managed to grow for three quarters straight. The on-quarter growth for GDP, or the sum of the value of a nation’s products and services, was revised upward to 0.9% from 0.5%. The annual numbers show how the economy would have grown if the quarterly rate were to continue for a year.
“Economic conditions in the region will continue to be in focus, with China’s trade balance data yesterday revealing challenges in both external and domestic demand,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore, referring to Wednesday’s Chinese data.
Investors are also watching for what may happen on interest rates at the European Central Bank's meeting, as well as for comments from U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, later Thursday.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 1.8%, its biggest single-day gain in four weeks, with roughly 95% of the stocks in the benchmark index closing higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 2.1%. Smaller company stocks outgained the...
