Investing.com - Asian Pacific shares opened positively on Thursday following the surge of US tech stocks overnight that boosted Wall Street to new record highs.
As of 11:15 am, S&P/ASX 200 and Nikkei 225 added 0.6% and 1.1% respectively, while the KOSPI 200 remained closed for a public holiday.
NVIDIA Corporation's (NASDAQ:NVDA) 5.2% advance lifted it to a market value of over $3 trillion, making it the third US company to cross the $3 trillion threshold, after Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Apple's shares gained 0.8%, closing with a market value higher than $3 trillion for the first time since January.
The S&P 500 saw a 1.2% increase, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 2%, bringing its 2024 advance to over 14%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, or approximately 96 points.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note fell for a fifth consecutive trading day to 4.289%, its lowest settle since March.
Investors are now looking ahead to the monthly jobs report on Friday, which could provide insights about the economy's strength and the likelihood of the Federal Reserve starting to cut interest rates soon.
In the commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 1.4% to US$78.58 a barrel, while gold was up 1.2% at US$2,355.32.
Chinese shares ended lower, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.8%. Investors are awaiting May trade data due on Friday. In contrast, India's Sensex rose 3.2% to 74382.24, making it one of the best performing markets in Asia.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 Index added 0.3% to 8255.54. Meanwhile, in Europe, shares closed higher, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index adding 0.8% to 521.23.