Stocks in Asia Pacific rose on Thursday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 1,000 points overnight stateside.
The Nikkei 225 leaped 229.06 points, or 1.1%, to 21,329.12.
The Japanese yen changed hands at 107.22 per U.S. dollar after seeing lows above 108 earlier in the trading week.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also announced a $50-billion aid package on Wednesday to combat the impact of the coronavirus.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told the media the money is available “immediately” and is for low-income and emerging market countries.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index triumphed 545.08 points, or 2.1%, to 26,767.87, with shares of life insurer AIA soaring almost 3%.
Korean stocks hiked, as shares of Celltrion soared 4.3%.
Shares in Australia also rose, with shares of CSL surging 3.5%.
Australia’s January trade data released Thursday came in above expectations. The balance on goods and services came in at a surplus of $5.21 billion Australian dollars (approx. $3.445 billion U.S.) on a seasonally adjusted basis, above expectations of a surplus of 4.8 billion Australian dollars in an economist poll.
Meanwhile, the country warned on Thursday that the coronavirus crisis will deduct at least half a percentage point from growth in the current quarter. Australia reported its second death from the disease, and a first from a local transmission.
The Australian dollar was at $0.6627 after its rise from levels below $0.655 this week.
In other markets
The CSI 300 in China gained 91.68 points, or 2.2%, to 4,206.73.
In Korea, the Kospi index added 25.93 points, or 2.2%, to 2,059.33
In Taiwan, the Taiex jumped 122.47 points, or 1.1%, to 11,514.82
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index docked 6.76 points, or 0.2%, to 3,018.27
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 popped 223.11 points, or 2%, to 11,640.89
In Australia, the ASX 200 regained 70.33 points, or 1.1%, to 6,395.74
