Investing.com - Asian stock markets were higher on Wednesday, as growing optimism over the health of the U.S. economy boosted sentiment.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.85%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.78%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200closed 0.28% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended up 0.24%.
Asia was given a positive lead from the U.S., where the S&P 500 closed at all-time highs, as indications that the U.S. economy is improving fuelled a stock market rally.
Data released Tuesday showed that U.S. durable goods orders rose unexpectedly in April, while another report showed that U.S. consumer confidence improved in line with forecasts this month.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei held near the previous session’s seven-week high as strong overnight gains on Wall Street lifted sentiment. The yen traded at ¥102.02 against the U.S. dollar, compared to the previous session’s high of ¥101.71 (USD/JPY).
Mitsui Fudosan (TOKYO:8801) lost 4.7% after Japan’s biggest real estate developer said it was planning to raise $3.2 billion in a 100 million share offering.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the ASX/200 Index hit a fresh one-month high, while the Australian dollar hovered near a one-week peak against the greenback.
The Aussie (AUD/USD) strengthened to 92.69 U.S. cents from a low of 92.32 U.S. cents in the prior session.
Gold miners were weaker after prices of the precious metal sank 2% on Tuesday. Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM) and Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) tumbled 4.2% and 4.8% respectively.
Elsewhere, shares in Hong Kong moved higher as a rally in internet stocks boosted the benchmark index. Lenovo Group (HK:0992) and Tencent Holdings (HK:2988) climbed 1.8% and 1.6% respectively.
Looking ahead, European stock market futures pointed to a mixed open. The Euro Stoxx 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.2%, France’s CAC 40 indicated a decline of 0.1%, Germany's DAX pointed to a gain of 0.2%, while London’s FTSE 100 indicated a flat open.
Across the Atlantic, U.S. equity markets pointed to a firm open. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 0.1%, the S&P 500 added 0.1%, while the Nasdaq 100 indicated a rise of 0.1%.