Major stock indices in Asia extended gains on Thursday. The rally in the Asian stocks was clearly backed by the positive U.S. economic data.
In Australia
Aussie stocks advanced Thursday to reach a new one-month high, building on the gains registered in the previous session. In addition to the positive U.S. economic metrics and expectations for upbeat data in the jobs report coming this Friday, Australia was also its own catalyst. The domestic economy expanded faster than analysts expected in the last quarter of 2015, according to the official economic data.
With that the S&P/ASX 200 continued to trend upward Thursday, notching a 1.19% gain and touching a one-month high. The gains in the Australia stock index were particularly driven by strong advances in Materials, Resources and Mining/Metals stocks.
On the currency side, the AUD/USD pair closed at 0.7317, up 0.30%.
Japan’s Nikkei excites
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index also closed the day on an excitement note. The index rose 1.28%, Mining, Banking and Shipbuilding industries driving the gains.
Taiwan stocks close 0.79% up
In Taiwan, The Taiwan Weighted jumped 0.79% to touch a 3-month high. Most of the support in index came from Paper & Pulp, Iron & Steel and Construction sectors.
In China
The Shanghai Compose also joined the advancing Asian indices, registering a 0.35% gain on Thursday.
U.S. markets register gains
The advances in Asian markets followed the trend of the U.S. markets on the previous day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 34.24 points (0.2%) in Wednesday’s trading to close at 16,899.32. The S&P 500 on its part moved up 8.1 places or rose 0.41% to close the day at 1,986.45. The story was the same at NASDAQ Composite where the index gained 13.83 points or increased 0.29% from the previous session to end the day at 4,703.42.
Although centrals banks in China and Europe are struggling to prop up growth in their regions, the U.S. economy is showing strong signs of recovery.