The sound of a gong is displayed on an electronic screen at the Exchange Square complex, home to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in Hong Kong, China, Tuesday, March 15, 2022.
Paul Yang | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Japanese stocks led Asian shares higher on Thursday after Wall Street edged higher on rising tensions in the Middle East.
Japanese Nikkei 225 Index It opened up 2.57%, while the Topix gained 2%.
The yen fell to 146.54 against the dollar overnight. On Wednesday, Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters that current economic conditions do not support another interest rate hike. ShibaLeave a comment After meeting with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda.
Investors will be looking forward to a busy series of data from Asia. Australian Seasonally adjusted Judo Bank Composite PMI The September figure was 49.6, down from 51.7 in August and below the 50 neutral mark. The services PMI was 50.5, down from 52.5 in August.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is also expected to release the country's trade data for August. Economists polled by Reuters forecast a surplus of A$5.5 billion, down from A$6.01 billion in July.
Other available data include Japanese PMI data for September and Hong Kong retail sales in August.
Markets in mainland China will be closed until Oct. 8 for a week-long holiday, while South Korea will be closed on Thursday for Republic Day.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.25%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index Index futures were at 22,438 points, slightly lower than the Hang Seng Index's last closing point of 22,443.73 points. The index closed up more than 6% in strong performance after hitting a 22-month high on Wednesday.