Investing.com - Asian shares were mostly higher on Thursday with investors monitoring Middle East developments and expecting thin trade with U.S. markets shut.
The wide-ranging geopolitical ramifications of the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey remained in focus.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.68%, while the Shnaghai Composite was just off flat, down 0.03%. The Nikkei 225 was quoted up 0.56%.
In Australia capital expenditure data for the third quarter with private new capital expenditure plunged 9.2%, compared to a 3.0% drop seen.
U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday will be a half day, resulting in thin liquidity conditions.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Services and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Utilities and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.01%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.01%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.26%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Pfizer Inc (N:N:PFE), which rose 2.82% or 0.90 points to trade at 32.87 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (N:N:NKE) added 1.22% or 1.62 points to end at 134.13 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (N:N:UNH) was up 1.08% or 1.22 points to 114.41 in late trade.
A deluge of mostly upbeat U.S. economic data reinforced the case for a Fed rate hike next month.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Wednesday that new home sales rose by 10.7% to 495,000 units last month.
The report came shortly after the U.S. Department of Labor said first time jobless claims declined by 12,000 last week to 260,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 272,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to fall by 2,000 last week.
A separate report showed that durable goods orders jumped 3.0% in October, easily surpassing forecasts for 1.5%. Core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, rose 0.5%, beating expectations for an increase of 0.3%.
The upbeat data added to already growing expectations the Federal Reserve will raise rates for the first time in nearly a decade at its December 15-16 meeting.
Most Fed officials believe there is a strong case to begin raising interest rates next month, as long as U.S. economic data does not disappoint in the coming weeks.