Benchmarks in the Asia-Pacific markets rose, tracking Wall Street, as investors shifted their focus to the US employment report release after the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting.
As of 6:38 a.m., the KOSPI index was 13.37 points, or 0.50% higher, at 2,697.02. The S&P ASX 200 was 33.80 points, or 0.45%, higher at 7,620.80. Markets in Japan and Mainland China are closed.
US employment data will be crucial because it’ll provide insight into the job market, which has been resilient, defying decade-high interest rates.
The world’s biggest technology companies drove a rebound in US stocks ahead of Apple Inc.’s earnings, with Wall Street also gearing up for Friday’s jobs report, Bloomberg said.
The S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq 100 rose by 0.91% and 1.51%, respectively, as of Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.85%.
Brent crude was trading 0.29% higher at $83.96 a barrel. Gold fell 0.04% to $2,304.73 an ounce.
The GIFT Nifty was trading flat at 22,892.00 as of 6:54 a.m.
India’s benchmark equity indices ended Thursday on a positive note, with gains led by HDFC Bank Ltd. and Power Grid Corp. of India, but the upside was limited due to losses in the shares of ICICI Bank Ltd. and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
The NSE Nifty 50 ended 52.30 points up, or 0.23%, at 22,657.15, and the S&P BSE Sensex gained 128.33 points, or 0.17%, to close at 74,611.11.
Overseas investors turned net sellers on Thursday after two days of buying. Foreign portfolio investors sold stocks worth Rs 964.47 crore, and domestic institutional investors stayed net buyers for the eighth day and mopped up equities worth Rs 1,352.44 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.
The Indian currency closed 3 paise weaker against the US dollar at Rs 83.47.