Shares in Japan soared on Wednesday in Asia as a strong dollar boded well for exporters and manufacturing data further lifted sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 rose 2.27% as the dollar surged to a 14-year high against a basket of currencies overnight in the U.S. dollar index. ajor Japanese exporters were all sharply higher, particularly automakers. Toyota was up 2.81 percent, while Honda surged 4.28 percent.
Separately, the Nikkei Japan manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 52.4 in December, beating a preliminary reading of 51.9 and November's 51.3. A figure above 50 represents expansion in a sector, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction
The private survey indicates Japan's manufacturing sector is seeing signs of recovery, with increase domestic and global demand. It follows an upbeat China's Caixin manufacturing PMI on Tuesday to its best since January 2013, aiding regional sentiment.
The greenback surged to a 14-year high at 103.82 on Tuesday, supported by a strong read on the ISM manufacturing index, which was up 54.7 in December at its highest level in two years.
Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.27%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was falt.
The yuan was little changed against the dollar Wednesday even though the People's Bank of China set a weaker fixing for a
second consecutive trading day at 6.9526 Wednesday, compared with a fixing of 6.9498 Tuesday.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Telecoms, Oil & Gas and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.60%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.85%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.85%.