Asia-Pacific markets mostly closed higher Thursday following a tech rally overnight on Wall Street that lifted the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, even as growing fears around the economy weighed on equities.
In Japan, the Nikkei rebuilt 641.38 points, or 1.5%, to 42,580.27, as domestic tech stocks gained, led by SoftBank Group, which advanced over 6%. Shares of Fujikura, a circuitry and optical cable maker took on 6.04%, while Nvidia supplier Advantest rose 4.63%.
Earlier in the session, shares of Kyoto-based Nidec Corp plunged as much as 22.44%, after the company announced a probe into allegations of improper accounting in its group.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng lost 284.92 points, or 1.1%, to 25,058.51.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark climbed 1% to 8,826.5. The country’s household spending in July rose 0.5% month on month, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. This compares to a gain of 0.3% in June. On a yearly basis, household spending growth rose 5.1% in July, the fastest pace since November 2023.
The growth was boosted by demand for the health, transport, miscellaneous goods and services sectors.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dipped 94.62 points, or 2.1%, to 4,365.21.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index regained 7.5 points, or 0.2%, to 4,296.83.
In Korea, the Kospi gained 16.41 points, or 0.5%, to 3,200.83.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index hiked 79.55 points, or 0.3%, to 24,179.85.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 58.39 points, or 0.5%, to 13,133.20
In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 87.73 points, or 1%, to 8,826.53.
