Asian shares mostly saw gains on Thursday, influenced by a positive trend on Wall Street primarily led by a few major Big Tech companies. Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged by 2.8% in early trading to reach 36,605.62, benefiting from a weaker yen which enhances the value of overseas earnings. Companies like Toyota Motor Corp. and Nintendo Co. also experienced increases in their stock prices.
Currency trading showed the U.S. dollar rising to 142.53 Japanese yen and the euro slightly decreasing to $1.1016. Nippon Steel Corp. shares remained stable following concerns raised by Japan’s top businesses, including Keidanren, over potential political interference in Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel Corp.
Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose by 0.7%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed by 1.0%, and the Shanghai Composite remained relatively unchanged. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rebounded by 1.1% after erasing an initial 1.6% loss, driven by the performance of tech stocks like Nvidia which surged by 8.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite also saw increases.
Recent U.S. inflation data indicated a slowdown to 2.5% in August, slightly better than expected, with concerns remaining over the high prices impacting American consumers. The Federal Reserve is anticipated to decrease its main interest rate at the upcoming meeting. Big Tech companies continued to have a significant impact on Wall Street, with notable gains from Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, and Broadcom.
Overall market performance showed the S&P 500 rising by 58.61 points to 5,554.13, the Dow increasing by 124.75 to 40,861.71, and the Nasdaq composite jumping by 369.65 to 17,395.53. Additionally, in energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 19 cents to $67.50 a barrel, while Brent crude rose by 26 cents to $70.87 a barrel.