Investing.com - Asian shares stage a mild rebound on Thursday as investors took advantage of lower valuations for key index shares.
The Nikkei 225 edged up 0.12%, while the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.56% and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.51%.
In Australia, HIA New Home Sales fell 2.7% in December from a 3.0% fall seen in the previous month.
Overnight, U.S. stocks staged a dramatic comeback, cutting a large chunk of their losses late in Wednesday's session after the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 550 points in a massive sell-off triggered by the latest crash in oil prices.
On Wednesday, U.S. crude for February delivery fell more than 6% to an intraday low of $26.19, slipping to its lowest level since May, 2003. Crude prices have fallen precipitously this week following Iran's return to global markets after a group of Western Powers lifted longstanding economic sanctions against Tehran over the weekend. As a result, oil futures have tumbled more than 20% since the start of the new year in the face of mounting concerns related to excessive supply on global energy markets.
The Dow lost 249.28 or 1.56% to 15,766.74, while the NASDAQ Composite index ticked down 5.26 or 0.12% to 4,471.69 on a frenzied day of trading when both indices receded to their lowest levels since last summer's flash crash. The S&P 500 Composite index, meanwhile, fell 22.00 or 1.17% to 1,859.33, as stocks in nine of 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Energy and Utilities industries lagged, each falling more than 2% on the session. Stocks in the Health Care sector led.