Investing.com - Asian Pacific shares opened higher on Thursday, following Wall Street's rise prompted by positive talks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about potential rate cuts in 2024.
By 11:35 am AEDT (12:35 am GMT) Australia's S&P/ASX 200, South Korea's KOSPI 200, and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose by 0.3%, 0.2%, and 0.5% respectively.
In North America, US stocks closed higher as Powell stated that the strong inflation and employment data have not swayed the Federal Reserve's anticipation of rate cuts later this year. The Dow Jones, S&P 500, and NASDAQ Composite rose by 75 points to 38,661, 0.5% to 5,104, and 0.6% to 16,031, respectively.
In the commodities market, Brent crude oil and gold experienced an increase, with the former rising by 1.1% to $US82.91 a barrel, and the latter up by 0.8% to $US2,145.73.
In Asia, Chinese shares experienced fluctuations but closed mostly lower. The Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.3% lower at 3039.93, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 1.7% higher at 16,438.09. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed flat at 40,090.78, and India's Sensex rose by 0.55% to close at 74,085.99.
In Europe, the European Central Bank's new growth and inflation forecasts are expected to provide insights into potential policy shifts in the coming months. The STOXX Europe 600, CAC 40, and DAX 40 all closed higher, with respective increases of 0.4% to 498.2, 0.2% to 7,954.7, and 0.1% to 17,716.7. In the UK, the FTSE 100 rose by 0.3% to 7,671.54.