SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Friday trade following overnight gains on Wall Street with the S&P 500 jumping nearly 2%.
The Taiex in Taiwan surged 2.3%, leading gains among the region’s major markets, as shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose more than 4.5% following earnings release a day earlier.
TSMC on Thursday reported a net profit of 156.3 billion Taiwan dollars (around $5.57 billion) for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, above expectations of a 149 billion Taiwan dollars average of analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv, according to Reuters.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was 0.83% higher by the afternoon. Hong Kong stocks returned to trade on Friday after stock markets in the city were closed for two days.
Mainland Chinese stocks advanced, with the Shanghai composite up 0.29% while the Shenzhen component gained 0.503%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 climbed 1.35% while the Topix index advanced 1.41%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.89%.
Australian stocks edged higher as the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.76%. Shares of Qantas Airways jumped around 2% after the New South Wales government announced Friday that quarantine requirements will be scrapped for fully vaccinated international travelers from Nov. 1.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan traded 1% higher.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 surged 1.71% to 4,428.26 — its biggest jump since March — as investors cheered better-than-expected earnings reports from major firms such as Bank of America.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 534.75 points to 34,912.56 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.73% to 14,823.43.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 93.93 having weakened earlier this week from above 94.5.
The Japanese yen traded at 113.93 per dollar, still weaker than levels below 112.8 seen against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7419 following its climb from below $0.74 yesterday.
Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.77% to $84.65 per barrel. U.S. crude futures gained 0.7% to $81.88 per barrel.
Source: CNBC