Asian stocks advance after Wall Street gains

U.S. stock indexes set new records as technology and health care stocks rose, adding to gains for this year’s biggest gainers. (Pixabay photo)

BEIJING— Asian stocks rose Wednesday after Wall Street hit new highs ahead of the two-day U.S. break for the Thanksgiving holiday.

KEEPING SCORE: The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2 per cent to 3,416.94 and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.5 per cent to 22,523.15. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.4 per cent to 29,945.89 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 added 0.4 per cent to 5,986.40. Seoul’s Kospi climbed 0.3 per cent to 2,538.44 and benchmarks in New Zealand, Taiwan and Southeast Asia also rose.

WALL STREET: U.S. stock indexes set new records as technology and health care stocks rose, adding to gains for this year’s biggest gainers. Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon all rose more than 1 per cent. Basic materials companies rose while telecoms companies declined. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 0.7 per cent to 2,599.03. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.7 per cent to 23,590.83. The Nasdaq composite index added 1.1 per cent to 6,862.48.

ANALYST’S TAKE: “One can say that the leads we have today for Asia are about as upbeat for risk appetite as the bulls could hope for,” said Chris Weston of IG in a report. “Emerging markets are flying and this is where traders are really generating outperformance. Asia, in particular, is looking super strong.”

U.S. FED WATCH: Chair Janet Yellen said the Federal Reserve needs to craft an interest rate policy that avoids putting the economy through a “boom-bust” cycle. Yellen’s speech Tuesday echoed previous remarks on inflation, reinforcing expectations the Fed will continue with gradual rate hikes. Yellen is due to leave the Fed next year but economists expect no major changes in policy.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 83 cents to $57.66 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 41 cents on Tuesday to close at $56.83. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 45 cents to $63.02 in London. It advanced 35 cents the previous session to $62.57.

CURRENCY: The dollar declined to 112.16 yen from Tuesday’s 112.44 yen. The euro rose to $1.1750 from $1.1739.