Investing.com - Shares in Tokyo gained smartly, aided by a weaker yen with other key markets up narrowly ahead of the European Central Bank policy review later Thursday.
The Nikkei 225 rose 1.02% with the yen crossing 107 to the dollar. Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.13%, while the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.60%.
In Australia, the NAB quarterly business confidence survey came in at plus-2 in the second quarter, compared to a first quarter figure of plus-4. The quarterly business outlook is dated, but is a good sector indicator.
Overnight, U.S. stocks rose moderately on Wednesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher for a ninth consecutive session matching its longest winning streak since March, 2013.
Buoyed by stellar gains from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:MSFT), the Dow also hit all-time record high of 18,622.01, posting a record intra-day high for the eighth time in nine sessions. The Dow closed at 18,595.03%, up 36.02 or 0.19%, also recording a record closing-high for the ninth consecutive trading day.
The NASDAQ Composite index added 53.56 or 1.06% to 5,089.93, while the S&P 500 Composite index gained 9.24 or 0.43% to 2,173.02. Much like the Dow, the S&P 500 also hit record intra-session and closing highs on Wednesday. On the S&P 500, six of 10 sectors closed in the green as stocks in the Technology and Health Care industries led.
Stocks in the Utilities sector lagged, closing down by 0.46% on the session. Meanwhile, the NASDAQ remains approximately approximately 2.5% from all-time record highs, after rallying from a subdued performance this spring.