Japan’s Nikkei 225 crossed the 42,000 mark for the first time amid a broader rise in Asia-Pacific markets on Thursday, after U.S. Big Tech rallied overnight on optimism over Federal Reserve rate cuts.
The index hiked 392.03 points, or 0.9%, to 42,224.02, a new, fresh closing high, powered by technology stocks,
On a year-on-year basis, core machinery orders in Japan climbed 10.8%, higher than a Reuters forecast of a 7.2% rise.
Core machinery orders, however, unexpectedly fell for a second straight month on a month-on-month basis, slipping 3.2% compared to the 0.8% rise expected by economists polled by Reuters.
Machinery orders are a volatile, yet leading indicator of capital spending in Japan, and a fall could indicate a fragile economy, complicating the Bank of Japan’s plans to normalize monetary policy.
Japanese automaker Toyota received a boost in India after the state of Uttar Pradesh waived some levies on hybrid cars, making them 10% cheaper, Reuters reported.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index recovered 360.66 points, or 2.1%, to 17,832.33.
Korean markets surged as the Bank of Korea held rates at 3.5% for the 12th time in a row.
Australian markets advanced, hitting their highest closing level since March.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 picked up 39.2 points, or 1.1%, to 3,468.17.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index progressed 15.13 points, or 0.4%, to 3,475.06.
In Korea, the Kospi index leaped 23.36 points, or 0.8%, to 2,891.35.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index popped 382.95 points, or 1.6%, to 24,390.03.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 hiked 114.96 points, or 1%, to 12,058.29.
In Australia, the ASX 200 moved positive 72.83 points, or 0.9%, to 7,889.64.
