By Investors Hub
Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday, although gains remained modest outside Japan, where the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index jumped over 3 percent on its first trading day of the New Year.
Underlying sentiment was supported by rallying oil prices, encouraging service sector data from China and the record closing highs overnight on Wall Street.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 17.40 points or 0.5 percent to 3,386.50, extending gains for the fifth straight session. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 175.53 points or 0.6 percent to 3,0736.48.
The latest survey from Caixin showed that the Chinese service sector expanded at an accelerated pace in December with a PMI score of 53.9, up from 51.9 in November.
Japanese shares rallied on the first trading day of 2018 as the yen remained relatively weak on global growth optimism and oil prices surged to their highest level since December of 2014.
The Nikkei 225 Index ended up 741.39 points or 3.3 percent at 23,506.33, as traders returned to their desks after a long New Year?s break. The broader Topix Index closed 2.6 percent higher at 1,863.82.
Honda Motor climbed 3.2 percent after it teamed up with Alibaba Group to jointly develop connected cars. Semiconductor company Tokyo Electron soared 6.2 percent, mobile carrier SoftBank jumped 4.3 percent, lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rallied 2.5 percent and oil firm Inpex advanced 3.4 percent.
The manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in December, and at an accelerated pace, the latest survey from Nikkei showed today with a manufacturing PMI score of 54.0, up from 53.6 in November.
Australian shares closed modestly higher after U.S. stocks hit record highs on Wednesday. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index inched up 6.70 points or 0.1 percent to 6,077.10, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended 0.2 percent higher at 6,185.40.
Healthcare stocks surged after the federal government approved exports of medical cannabis products. Shares of Cann Group surged up more than 35 percent, Bod Australia jumped 39.5 percent and Hydroponics Company soared 30.8 percent.
Banks ended mostly lower, while energy stocks such as Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search surged 3-4 percent after crude oil futures rose above $61 a barrel for the first time since December of 2014. The big miners ended on a mixed note.
On the economic front, the latest survey from the Australian Industry Group showed that the Australian services sector expanded at an accelerated pace in December with an index score of 52.0, up from 51.7 in November.
