Asia markets traded in positive territory on Wednesday morning after Wall Street extended gains overnight — with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 hitting another record high — as trade fears eased.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up by 0.31 percent in early trade, with the shipping sector continuing its move upward by 1.17 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was largely flat.
The ASX 200 traded largely flat as construction materials and building products supplier Boral’s stock surged upward in early trade by 7.4 percent on the back of news that its full year net profit rose 48.5 percent.
Overnight, the S&P 500 extended its gains to close at another record high of 2,897.52 after crossing the 2,900 mark earlier in the day for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite, which also saw another all-time high and rose 0.1 percent to 8,030.04. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 14.38 points to 26,064.02.
The moves stateside came as Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland traveled to Washington on Tuesday to resume negotiations about the future of NAFTA, a day after the U.S. and Mexico announced that they had agreed to a new trade deal.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, was at 94.699 at 8:14 a.m. HK/SIN.
The Japanese yen traded largely flat against the dollar at 111.18 yen while the Australian dollar traded at $0.7344 at 8:14 a.m. HK/SIN.
Oil markets were up in the early hours of Asian trade, global benchmark brent crude futures rose slightly by 0.09 percent at $76.02 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.13 percent at $68.62 a barrel.
Here is a look at the day ahead:
- Singapore – July trade data at 1:00 p.m. HK/SIN
- Turkey – July trade data; economic confidence at 3:00 p.m. HK/SIN
– Reuters contributed to this report.
