Asian markets were trading mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.62% or 123.25 points at 20,086.20.
Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.64% or 58.17 points at 9,150.93.
Singapore’s Straits Times was up 0.14% or 4.37 points at 3,067.26.
South Korea’s Seoul Composite shed 0.51% or 9.91 points at 1,948.
China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.14% or 3.01 points at 2,109.19.
Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted was flat at 7,495.14.
The US markets have their best session in nearly two weeks as German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterates her support for the ECB’s plans to fight the euro zone crisis and as the Dow component Cisco systems hiked its dividend 75%. The CBOE volatility index slipped to just above 14, a five-year low.
Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.65% or 85.33 points at 13250.11. Nasdaq Composite added 1.01% or 31.46 points at 3062.39. Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.71% or 9.98 points at 1415.51.
In economic data, weekly jobless claims rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 366,000, in line with expectations. Factory activity in the mid-atlantic area contracted for the fourth-straight month in August. And housing starts unexpectedly fell in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 746,000.
In the currency space, the euro gains versus the dollar, above 1.23 as Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterates her support for the ECB’s plans to fight the euro zone crisis.
In commodities, Brent crude prices at 3 month peak following weakness in dollar and comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In the precious metals space, gold prices gain on further stimulus hopes.
Indian ADRs ended mixed on Thursday. In the IT space, Infosys was up 1.69% at USD 42.08, Patni was down 0.11% at USD 18.38 and Wipro was down 0.37% at USD 8.02.
In the Telecom space, Tata Communication was up 1.68% at USD 8.47 and MTNL was up 0.33% at USD 1.21. In the Banking space, HDFC Bank was up 0.74% at USD 35.27 and ICICI Bank was down 0.89% at USD 34.44.
In the other space, Tata Motors was up 1.93% at USD 21.15, Dr Reddys was up 1.43% at USD 29.73 and Sterlite was down 0.88% at USD 7.88.
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Asian markets were trading mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.62% or 123.25 points at 20,086.20.