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A general view of the Shanghai Securities Exchange building is being shown in Shanghai, China, on July 16, 2024.
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SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific markets closed higher on Thursday, following gains on Wall Street that saw the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average reach new records as investors shrugged off geopolitical concerns.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended the day up 0.43% to reach 8,223 points. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.34% to end at 2,603.25, while the small-cap Kosdaq was down 0.22% to 776.52.
Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.26% to end at 39,380.89, while the broad-based Topix rose 0.2% to close at 2,71267.
Traders in Asia were assessing September data on producer prices in Japan which rose 2.8% from a year ago. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted the inflation rate would come in at 2.3%, down from 2.5% in August.
Investors also assessed quarterly earnings report from Japanese retailer Seven & i Holdings Co. after it received a revised buyout offer from Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Seven & i slashed its operating profit outlook for the 12 months through to the end of February, as well as its net profit forecast. Seven & i shares ended the trading day down 0.43% on Thursday.
The mainland CSI 300 closed over 1% higher at 3,997.78, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 2.8% as of its last hour of trading.
China's central bank said it began accepting applications from financial institutions to join a newly created liquidity tool — initially worth 500 billion yuan ($70.7 billion) — that will provide easier access to capital for the stock market.
The rebound in Chinese stocks comes after a market rally stalled on Wednesday. The CSI 300 broke a 10-day winning streak to drop 7%. The rally had been triggered by a blitz of government stimulus measures at the end of September.
China's Finance Ministry will hold a press briefing on Oct. 12, during which they may provide additional insights into fiscal policy and economic development.
Speaking to "Street Signs Asia" on Thursday, Chetan Ahya, Chief Asia Economist at Morgan Stanley, said that Beijing would need to announce a 10 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) fiscal stimulus focused on boosting consumption to create a sustained turn around in investor confidence.
"That's not what we are saying they'll do, but we think that they'll need something like that to get the economy out of deflation," Ahya said.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 rallied 0.71% to end at 5,792.04 after hitting an all-time high, while the 30-stock Dow surged 431.63 points, or 1.03%, to reach 42,512 for a record close. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6% to end at 18,291.62.
Wall Street maintained its gains after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's September meeting, in which it cut by a half percentage point, revealed that a "substantial majority of participants" had favored reducing interest rates by the larger amount.
The strong trading day also came despite lingering fears of a broader war in the Middle East as Israel promises to launch a retaliatory strike against Iran.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish its September data on consumer prices on Thursday morning in the U.S. Economists polled by Reuters expect core inflation to hold steady at 3.2% year-on-year.
— CNBC's Samantha Subin and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
China ‘still has room to run,’ says UBS Managing Director Jason Katz
Though China's stimulus measures have not lived up to high expectations yet, the market remains underinvested, according to Jason Katz, managing director and senior portfolio manager at UBS.
Buyout bid for 7-Eleven's parent company could turn hostile, strategist warns
It's "entirely possible" that Alimentation Couche-Tard's buyout bid for Seven & i to turn into a hostile takeover attempt, Nicholas Smith, a Japan strategist at CLSA told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" Thursday.
"We've had a lot of problems with poison pills in Japan in recent years, and the legal structure is extremely opaque," he added.
— Anniek Bao
Seven & i cuts profits forecasts for February-ending fiscal year
Seven & i Holdings slashed its operating profit outlook for the 12 months through end-February to 403 billion Japanese yen ($2.7 billion) from its prior forecast of 545 billion yen.
The Japanese retailer also cuts its net profit forecast to 163 billion Japanese yen from the previous projection of 293 billion yen.
Seven & i confirmed Wednesday that it received a revised bid from ACT, but did not disclose further details. Bloomberg previously reported that the Canadian operator of Circle-K stores had raised its offer by around 20% to $18.19 per share, which would value Seven and i at 7 trillion Japanese yen ($47 billion).
— Anniek Bao
China's central bank launches $71 billion liquidity tool for stock markets
China's central bank announced it would start accepting applications from financial institutions to join a newly created liquidity tool to help facilitate investors to buy shares.
Eligible security firms, fund companies and insurers are eligible to apply to the "swap scheme" — initially worth 500 billion yuan ($70.7 billion) — to get easier access to funding to buy stocks, People's Bank of China said.
— Dylan Butts
Japanese retailer Aeon's drops nearly 10% on poor earnings
Japanese retailer Aeon was trading down nearly 10% following a quarterly earnings report that showed a net profit plunge.
Despite an increase in sales, the company's net profit in the March to August period plunged 76.5% from a year ago amid rises in personnel and other costs.
— Dylan Butts
Honda shares rise in early trading despite 1.7 million vehicle recall
Honda Motor's American susidiary said it would recall about 1.7 million cars and SUVs over an issue with a steering gearbox, which could increase the risk of accidents.
Honda Motor's shares, however, jumped 2% in early trading in Japan after it unveiled next-generation technologies to for EVs and two new electric personal commuter models in Indonesia.
— Dylan Butts
Japan's wholesale inflation rises in September from a year ago
Japan's producer price index rose 2.8% in September from a year earlier, data from the Bank of Japan showed, accelerating from a revised 2.6% gain in August.
The wholesale inflation figure was also higher than the market's forecast of a 2.3% increase, according to a Reuters poll. On a month-on-month basis, the producer price index was flat in September, compared to the market forecast of a 0.3% decrease.
The export price index contracted 0.4% from the previous month on a contract currency basis, while the import price index fell 1.3%.
The index measures the prices companies charge each other for their goods and services.
— Anniek Bao
CNBC Pro: These cheap stocks are outperforming, and analysts give 5 more than 20% upside
Markets just keep rallying this year, with the S&P 500 up nearly 22% year-to-date and the Nasdaq jumping around 21%. In global stocks, the MSCI World index is around 16% higher.
Many on Wall Street expect the trend to continue. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and others all see the S&P 500 around 6,000 by the end of the year, up from around 5,730 on Tuesday.
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— Weizhen Tan
Stocks finish higher, S&P and Dow hit new highs
Stocks rallied Wednesday and the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average notched new highs.
The S&P 500 rallied 0.7% to end at 5,792.04 after notching an all-time high, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6% to finish at 18,291.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 431.63 points, or 1%, to settle at 42,512.00 and at a record close.
— Samantha Subin
Oil closes lower amid uncertainty over how Israel will hit Iran
Crude oil futures edged lower Wednesday, after selling off steeply in the previous amid uncertainty over how Israel will retaliate against Iran.
U.S. crude oil closed at $73.24 per barrel, down 33 cents or 0.45%. Global benchmark Brent settled at $76.58 per barrel, down 60 cents or 0.78%.
Oil futures sold off more than 4% on Tuesday as the rally on war risk in the Middle East has stalled out. Israel has vowed to hit back against Iran for last week's ballistic missile strike, but there is growing perception that it may not target oil facilities.
"From here, durable forms of supply disruption need to occur to see further advances for energy," Ryan Grabinski, managing director and investment strategist at Strategas.
— Spencer Kimball
Rio Tinto on pace for longest losing streak in more than three years
Shares of Rio Tinto fell 0.5%% in afternoon trading, putting the stock on track for its eighth consecutive day of losses. If the stock closes lower, this will mark its longest losing streak since March 23, 2021, when it saw eight straight days in the red.
The move comes after the miner announced it's acquiring fellow miner Arcadium Lithium in an all-cash transaction for $5.85 per share. Shares of that company surged more than 30% during Wednesday's session.
RIO vs. ALTM, 1-day
— Sean Conlon
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