Investing.com – Most Asian stocks were up on Thursday on the back of far better-than-expected report on Chinese exports and strong Australian jobs data.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.21%; South Korea's Kospi Composite rose 0.27%; and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 1.1%.
Earlier in the day, China's customs agency said exports jumped 48.5% in May, as imports grew 48.3%, shooting past most forecasts and producing a trade surplus of USD 19.5 billion. The growth in exports pushed trade surplus for the month to USD 19.5 billion, up more than 10 times, from USD 1.7 billion in April.
But the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.82% on concern the government will step up tightening measures after property prices rose 12.4% last month.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1.14% after official data showed that larger-than-expected numbers of jobs were created in Australia in May. The rise also came after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s interest rate hike on Wednesday.
The outlook for U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, was rosy: Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a rise of 0.71%, S&P 500 futures pointed to a rise of 0.82% and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated an increase of 0.88%.
Later in the day the U.S. was to publish data on its trade balance and release closely watched weekly data on initial jobless claims.
Also Thursday, the U.S. government was to publish a report on the monthly Federal budget balance.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.21%; South Korea's Kospi Composite rose 0.27%; and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 1.1%.
Earlier in the day, China's customs agency said exports jumped 48.5% in May, as imports grew 48.3%, shooting past most forecasts and producing a trade surplus of USD 19.5 billion. The growth in exports pushed trade surplus for the month to USD 19.5 billion, up more than 10 times, from USD 1.7 billion in April.
But the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.82% on concern the government will step up tightening measures after property prices rose 12.4% last month.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1.14% after official data showed that larger-than-expected numbers of jobs were created in Australia in May. The rise also came after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s interest rate hike on Wednesday.
The outlook for U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, was rosy: Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a rise of 0.71%, S&P 500 futures pointed to a rise of 0.82% and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated an increase of 0.88%.
Later in the day the U.S. was to publish data on its trade balance and release closely watched weekly data on initial jobless claims.
Also Thursday, the U.S. government was to publish a report on the monthly Federal budget balance.