The Seoul city skyline early on December 16, 2020. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP) (Photo by ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images)
Ed Jones | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets rose on Thursday, with Hong Kong stocks leading regional gains.
South Korea’s central bank left rates unchanged at 3.5%, while Indonesia is expected to hold its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 5.75%.
South Korea’s producer price index climbed 0.2% year-on-year, the 13th straight month that growth in the PPI has slowed.
Investors will also be assessing chipmaker’s Nvidia’s earnings that were released early Thursday. The company beat estimates for the fiscal second quarter and issued optimistic guidance for the current period.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led gains in the region and climbed 2.23%, while mainland Chinese markets were also up, with the CSI 300 gaining 1.16%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.87% up, while the Topix climbed 0.43% on Thursday.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.57%, while South Korea’s Kospi was higher by 1.23% and the Kosdaq was up 2.12%.
On Wednesday, in the U.S., all three major indexes gained ground, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 0.5% up.
The S&P 500 gained 1.1% and recorded its best daily performance since June 30, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.6%, for its third straight day of gains.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh and Alex Harring contributed to this report