SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were higher on Thursday, with markets in Japan closed for a holiday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was among the biggest gainers regionally, rising about 1.7%, as of its final hour of trading. Shares of China Evergrande Group surged around 8%. Those gains came after the indebted developer announced it has solved legal disputes with China Guangfa Bank, according to Reuters.
Mainland Chinese stocks closed higher, with the Shanghai composite climbing 0.34% to 3,574.73 while the Shenzhen component rose 0.326% to 15,262.19.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.07% to close at 3,250.21.
Elsewhere, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia advanced 1.06% to finish the trading day at 7,386.40. Shares of major miner BHP soared 3.13% after the firm announced Thursday the signing of a nickel supply agreement with Tesla.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.2%.
Still, concerns over the coronavirus situation in Asia-Pacific may continue to weigh on regional sentiment on Thursday. Australia’s two largest states on Wednesday reported sharp increases in new Covid infections, while Indonesia saw record high deaths from the virus, according to Reuters.
Markets in Japan were closed on Thursday for a holiday.
Meanwhile, the price of bitcoin rebounded after recently falling below the $30,000 mark. It traded at $32,209 as of 3:09 a.m. ET Thursday, according to Coin Metrics.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 286.01 points to 34,798 while the S&P 500 rose 0.82% to 4,358.69. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.92% to 14,631.95.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.746 after a recent fall from above 93.
The Japanese yen traded at 110.14 per dollar, weaker than levels below 109.5 seen against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.737, still above levels below $0.732 seen yesterday.
Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asia trading hours on Thursday, with international benchmark Brent crude futures falling 0.22% to $72.07 per barrel. U.S. crude futures slipped 0.14% to $70.20 per barrel.