Japan’s Nikkei 225 hit another record Thursday fueled by “Takaichi trade,” while the broader Asia-Pacific markets mostly climbed after tech stocks powered a Wall Street rally overnight.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained another 170.27 points, or 2.2%, to 58,583.12, another fresh high.
On Wednesday, the Japanese government tapped Ayano Sato of Aoyama Gakuin University and Toichiro Asada of Chuo University as central bank board members, both dovish in their policy stance which aligns with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s approach as well.
The two will succeed outgoing central bank board members Asahi Noguchi and Junko Nakagawa, whose terms expire at the end of March and in June, respectively.
Japanese equities have scaled multiple record highs recently, buoyed by the so-called “Takaichi trade,” as investors bet that the prime minister’s growth-oriented policies — viewed as an extension of Abenomics — will lift stocks while pressuring the yen through looser monetary policy and increased fiscal spending.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index recovered 175.4 points, or 0.7%, to 26,765.72.
Korean markets flourished as well. The Bank of Korea left its base rate unchanged at 2.5%, in line with Reuters’ expectations.
Asian tech stocks rallied as stronger-than-expected results from Nvidia eased concerns that momentum in artificial intelligence sector was cooling.
Shares of South Korean chipmaking giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix jumped in early trade.
SK Hynix, which is a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory used in AI applications to Nvidia, rose over 2%. Samsung Electronics, which has been a decades-old partner of Nvidia, was up about 5%.
Other South Korean tech stocks also rose, with components manufacturer LG Innotek surging almost 14%, while Seoul Semiconductor soared 13%.
In other markets
In China, the CSI 300 tailed off 9.01 points, or 0.2%, to 4,726.87.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index lost 43.35 points, or 0.9%, to 4,964.38.
In Korea, the Kospi index leaped 223.41 points, or 3.7%, to 6,307.27.
In Taiwan, the Taiex forged ahead 1.42 points to 35,414.49.
In Australia, the ASX took on 47.02 points, or 0.5%, to 9,175.31.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 restored 145.13 points, or 1.1%, to 13,670.71.
