Asia markets climbed across the board on Thursday, as uncertainties surrounding key monetary policy decisions came to a close, following Wednesday's announcements from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan (BOJ).
Markets in Japan were closed for holiday
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 89.9 points, or 0.4%, to 23,759.80
In company news, shares of troubled container shipping company Hanjin Shipping climbed 29.6% following media reports that said Hanjin's lead creditor, Korea Development Bank, was considering lending the company about 50 billion won ($45 million U.S.) to help unload stranded cargo.
Reports said an estimated $14 billion U.S. of cargo was trapped on Hanjin ships, following the company's collapse late last month.
The Fed kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, despite hints of a hike later in the year. In its post-meeting statement, the Federal Open Market Committee expressed confidence in economic growth, but not enough to make a move this month
The pullback in the U.S. dollar was likely behind a rise in the yen. The dollar/yen pair reached levels as high as near 102.78 after the BOJ's decision on Wednesday; the currency pair traded at 100.23 on Thursday afternoon Asia time.
Analysts suggested now that the key decisions from the U.S. and Japan were over, more investors would likely get back into the stock market.
Australian markets also gained with the energy sector advancing 2.1%, materials up 2.6%, and the heavily-weighted financial sector flat.
In other currency moves, the Australian dollar traded up 0.3% at $0.7649 U.S., likely boosted by the Fed's decision to keep interest rates on hold, which in turn pushed the greenback lower.
The Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) new governor Philip Lowe made his first public appearance Thursday in front of a house committee, where he reiterated the central bank's gradual inflation target between 2% and 3%, thus leaving room for further easing and gave an upbeat assessment of the Australian economy's readjustment following the unwinding of the mining investment boom.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its official cash rate unchanged at 2% on Thursday, but left the door open for further easing in the future, citing a relatively stronger kiwi dollar and inflation hovering below the central bank's target.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 gained 24.48 points, or 0.8%, to 3,291.12
The Straits Times Index in Singapore dipped 4.68 points, or 0.2%, to 2,846.06
The Kospi index in Korea added 13.71 points, or 0.7%, to 2,049.70
In Taiwan, the Taiex index added 6.76 points, or 0.1%, to 9,235.26
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recaptured 30.53 points, or 0.4%, to 7,311.71
In Australia, the ASX 200 moved higher 34.9 points, or 0.7%, to 5,374.46
