Stocks in Australia and Tokyo rose in early trade Thursday,
lifted by strong overnight gains on Wall Street as the U.S. Federal
Reserve signaled it would move cautiously on increasing interest
rates.
The S&P ASX 200 was up 1.2% at 5303.40, with bank stocks
that suffered in recent months trading higher. The broader Sydney
index was also bouncing from an eight-month low.
ANZ Banking Group was up 1.9%, Westpac gained 1.7% and National
Australia Bank gained 0.8%.
Overnight, the U.S. central bank caught investors by surprise.
The Fed talked about possible deflationary pressures from a
stronger dollar, signaling that a U.S. interest-rate increase may
come later than expected. U.S. stocks rallied on the news,
recording their largest one-day gains of the year Wednesday.
Investors in Asia continue to monitor international growth after
downbeat global growth forecasts from the International Monetary
Fund earlier in the week.
The Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.3%, with the help of
export-related stocks, after declining 1.2% yesterday.
Among auto makers, Mazda gained 1.5%, Toyota added 1.4% and
Nissan rose 0.8%. In the technology sector, electronics firm
Hitachi was up 1.2%, and semiconductor maker Toshiba Corporation
rose 1.1%.
Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com
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