Investing.com – Asian stocks advanced in morning trade on Thursday after the S&P 500 rose for a fourth consecutive day. On Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with U.S. President Trump at the White House to discuss the planned U.S. summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un next week.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4%, the S&P 500 gained 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.7%.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.8% by 9:45PM ET (01:45 GMT). “I will discuss with the president about the issues of nuclear weapons and missiles, and most importantly the abduction issue,” Abe told reporters on Wednesday.
According to a list released by Japan, 17 of its citizens having been abducted by North Korea in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As of April 2017, more than 12 million people had signed petitions from the families urging Abe to step up efforts to bring the kidnaps victims home.
Markets also look ahead to the Group of Seven meeting, which would be held on June 8 and 9 in Quebec, Canada. Trump would meet one-on-one with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron at the summit, according to reports.
China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component opened 0.4% and 0.5% higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.7%.
Elsewhere, India’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2014, as the Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to increase the repurchase rate to 6.25% from 6% on Wednesday.
Investors also eyed this month’s meetings of both the Federal Reserve and the ECB for more hints on monetary policy.