Asian shares rise, Wall St at new high

Tokyo: Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after Tesla shares zoomed up more than 10 per cent, helping to drive US benchmarks to new records.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.3 per cent to finish at 40,580.76. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained nearly 0.3 per cent to 7,739.90. South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.5 per cent to 2,794.71. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.1 per cent to 17,956.55, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.4 per cent to 2,982.38.

Asian investors were cheered by hopes for an interest rate cut in the US. But some traders were keeping to the sidelines ahead of Thursday’s Independence Day holiday in the US. “On the radar is the Japan’s Nikkei, which may extend its run above the 40,000 level, with overnight strength in tech while the Japanese yen continues to trade at a 38-year low,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at IG.

In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 161.80 Japanese yen from 161.44 yen.