Asia-Pacific markets rose Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street fueled by a tech rally.
The Nikkei 225 index recovered, big time, gaining 1,213.50 points, or 3.4%, to 36,833.27, breaking a string of eight losing sessions.
Tokyo Electron rose 4.8%, Advantest was up 9% and Renesas Electronics was 3.47% higher. SoftBank Group, which owns a stake in chip designer Arm, jumped 8.4%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index recovered 131.68 points, or 0.8%, to 17,240.39.
Separately, shares of Seven & i jumped as much as 7.3% after Bloomberg reported that Alimentation Couche-Tard is weighing increasing its bid for the Japanese retail group. The report noted, however, Couche-Tard would need to come up with a much more attractive proposal than the initial $39-billion buyout approach.
Couche-Tard is still debating next steps and there’s no certainty it will submit another proposal, Bloomberg report said, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
On the economic front, Japan’s producer price index rose 2.5% year-on-year in August, less than the expected 2.8% and the 3% reported in the previous month. The data is among the key indicators closely watched by the Bank of Japan. The central bank has signaled it intends to further raise interest rates in coming months.
Asian chipmaking heavyweights rallied after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made a compelling case for the future demand for AI chips.
Investors will also look toward the release of Hong Kong’s producer price index for the second quarter this afternoon.
Chinese home appliance maker Midea Group plans to price its shares at the top of the range in a deal that would raise at least $3.46 billion in a Hong Kong listing, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The listing is set to be the largest offering in Hong Kong since May 2021.
In Korea, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics soared over 8% and 1.85%, respectively.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company closed 4.79% higher and Hon Hai Precision Industry — known internationally as Foxconn — up 4.72%.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 slid 13.66 points, or 0.4%, to 3,172.47.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index popped 622.25 points, or 3%, to 21,653.25.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 25.36 points, or 0.7%, to 3,556.53.
In Korea, the Kospi index hiked 58.72 points, or 2.3%, to 2,572.09.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 climbed 187.94 points, or 1.5%, to 12,820.28.
In Australia, the ASX 200 rebounded 87.86 points, or 1.1%, to 8,075.73.
