Cherry trees in bloom near the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday, April 7, 2024.
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Asia-Pacific markets rose on Wednesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed at record highs overnight as traders become increasingly bullish on interest rate cuts.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.23%, while the Topix was up 0.44% after the Reuters Tankan survey showed an increase in business optimism among large Japanese manufacturers.
The manufacturing index was at +11, up from +6 in the previous month. However, confidence among non-manufacturers dipped from +31 to +27.
Separately, Japanese authorities likely intervened in the currency market last Thursday and Friday, spending a total of 6 trillion yen ($37.9 billion) over the two days, according to Reuters.
The yen is currently at 158.3 against the U.S. dollar. The currency weakened to 161.82 last Wednesday before strengthening to as much as 157.41 the following day.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.29%, just shy of its all time high of 8,037.3 points.
South Korea’s Kospi was trading close to the flatline, and the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 0.14%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 17,843, higher than the HSI’s last close of 17,727.98.
Investors will also watch out for Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports data due later in the day. Analysts expect them to contract 1.2% compared to 0.1% decline in the previous year, according to Reuters.
Overnight, the Dow blue-chip index gained 1.85%, closing at 40,954.48, while the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.64% to wrap the day at 5,667.20. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.20%.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh contributed to this report.