Investing.com - Asian shares showed smart gains on Thursday led by Tokyo as global growth prospects brighten views even as the Fed signaled a more hawkish tone in December meeting minutes released overnight.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 2.46%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.09%. In Sydney, oil and gas producers mostly notched gains, with Santos up 0.28% and Oil Search rising 1.93% as global crude prices gained.
In Greater China, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.27% and the Hang Seng index edged up 0.22%.
Minutes of the Fed's December meeting showed officials expect reductions in corporate and personal taxes to provide boosts to consumer and business spending, though they remain somewhat unsure of how much impact the recently passed reform effort will have.
The Federal Open Market Committee increased their expectations for 2018 GDP growth from 2.1%, or about trend since the post-financial crisis recovery, to 2.5%. “Most participants indicated that prospective changes in federal tax policy were a factor that led them to boost their projections of real GDP growth over the next couple of years,” the minutes stated.
While generally looking favorably on the rising stock market indexes, some officials have expressed concern that keeping policy overly accommodative could inflate bubbles.
“In light of elevated asset valuations and low financial market volatility, a couple of participants expressed concern that the persistence of highly accommodative financial conditions could, over time, pose risks to financial stability,” the minutes said.
Overnight, markets were buoyed by bullish economic data stoking investor expectations for solid economic growth.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.6% to close at 2,713.06 with tech rising 1.1%. The Nasdaq composite jumped 0.8% to 7,065.53, with Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) surging more than 5%. The Dow Jones industrial average finished 98.97 points higher at 24,922.68, as it closed in on the 25,000 mark.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) index of national factory activity rose to a reading of 59.7 in December from 58.2 in the previous month. That beat economists for forecast for reading of 58.2.
A reading above 50 indicates growth in manufacturing, well below 50 indicates contraction.
The Commerce Department said construction spending rose 0.8% to a record of $1.257 trillion in November, topping economists forecast for a 0.6% rise.