Investing.com – Asian stocks advanced in morning trade on Thursday after the S&P 500 rose for a fourth consecutive day. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Trump later in the day at the White House to discuss the planned U.S. summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un next week.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4%, the S&P 500 gained 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.7%.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.8% by 9:45PM ET (01:45 GMT). “I will discuss with the president about the issues of nuclear weapons and missiles,” Abe told reporters on Wednesday.
Markets also look ahead to the Group of Seven meeting, which will be held on June 8 and 9 in Quebec, Canada. Trump will meet one-on-one with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron at the summit to discuss trade issues, according to reports.
China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component opened 0.4% and 0.5% higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.7%.
Elsewhere, India’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2014, as the Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to increase the repurchase rate to 6.25% from 6% on Wednesday.
Investors also eyed this month’s meetings of both the Federal Reserve and the ECB for more hints on monetary policy.