Asian markets closed higher on Thursday after U.S. Federal Reserve May meeting minutes indicated an unwinding of its balance sheet likely towards year-end and as investors look ahead to a gathering of ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a meeting widely expected to extend output cuts.
The Nikkei 225 vaulted 70.15 points, or 0.4%, to 19,813.13
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index leaped 202.28 points, or 0.8%, to 25,630.78
Hong Kong's rating was downgraded by Moody's yesterday. This followed the rating agency's downgrade of China's credit rating for the first time since 1989. Moody's said the Hong Kong downgrade was due to the impact of China credit trends on Hong Kong.
Citic and Haitong shares traded in Hong Kong gained, surging 2.9% and 4.4% respectively
In South Korea, SK Hynix said the company's chip foundry business would be spun into a separate company. A company spokeswoman told the media that the company had made the decision to "elevate the long-term competitiveness of the foundry business."
After Samsung, SK Hynix is the world's second largest chip maker.Shares of the company closed flat at 55,800 won a share.
The Australian dollar, which fell on the back of the China ratings downgrade, recovered off its lows in the last session to trade at $0.7492 against the U.S. dollar. The Aussie dollar is sensitive to moves in commodity prices, such as the fall in iron ore prices seen in the last session.
While the Fed signaled that interest rates could be raised soon, Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members also indicated in the minutes that "it would be prudent" to wait for more evidence that reflected the softer economic data out of the U.S. was transitory.
Markets are also likely to be watching the highly-anticipated OPEC meeting in Vienna. Major oil producers are expected to extend output cuts in a bid to bring oil markets back into a more balanced position.
CHINA
Markets in greater China were higher a day after Moody's downgraded the credit rating of the world's second-largest economy.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 jumped 61.49 points, or 1.8%, to 3,485.66
In China, brokerages Citic Securities, Haitong Securities and Guosen Securities were fined by regulators for violating financing rules. Shares of the brokerages, however, shrugged off the fines to trade higher in Hong Kong and the mainland.
Mainland-listed shares of the brokerages reversed earlier losses to close higher. Citic Securities surged 4%, Haitong rose 2.4% and Guosen jumped 3.8%.
In other currency news, the yuan hit an almost two-month high against the U.S. dollar earlier in the session. Dollar/yuan in the onshore market jumped to trade at 6.8690, but softened to trade at 6.8735 by late afternoon.
Media outlets reported that this was due to the sale of dollars by state-owned banks in the onshore market. Onshore yuan closed the last session at 6.8895.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index picked up 64.07 points, or 0.6%, to 10, 108.49
In Korea, the Kospi index progressed 25.59 points, or 1.1%, to 2,342.93
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 3.13 points, or 0.1%, to 3,242.93
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 12.69 points, or 0.2%, to 7,434.47
In Australia, the ASX 200 moved upward 20.65 points, or 0.4%, to 5,789.63
