Asian shares trade higher, Nikkei an outlier

Bangkok: Asian shares powered higher on Thursday, with Chinese benchmarks up more than 1 per cent, after Wall Street logged modest gains in this holiday-shortened week. US futures edged higher and oil prices were mixed.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index was an outlier in the region, shedding 0.5 per cent to 33,519.61. Speculation over whether and when the Bank of Japan might ease its longstanding lax monetary policy and raise its key interest rate from minus 0.1 per cent has kept stocks wobbling in the world's third-largest economy. BOJ policymakers are waiting to see what sort of wage gains might come in 2024 as part of the central bank's strategy of keeping credit easy to try to spur stronger growth.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 1.5 per cent to 16,876.69 on heavy buying of technology and property shares. It has lost about 14 per cent this year as China's economy has sputtered despite the country's reopening after it loosened Covid-19 precautions. Online food delivery company Meituan was up 4.3 per cent and property developer Sino-Ocean Group Holding was up 3.5 per cent. The Shanghai Composite index surged 1.1 per cent to 2,947.01. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.9 per cent to 2,638.04 and the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia rose 0.5 per cent to 7,600.50. India's Sensex gained 0.4 per cent and Bangkok's SET was up 0.3 per cent.