Investing.com - Shares in China rose smartly after a week-long break, leading other regional exchanges higher on Thursday with the upcoming minutes of the Federal Reserve board meeting for September in focus.
The Shanghai Composite was up 3.74%, while the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.41% and the Nikkei 225 gained 0.17%.
In Japan core machinery orders plunged 5.7% in August, sharply missing the expected 3.2% gain month-on-month, leading the government to downgrade its views on the sector after the third straight monthly drop.
Weak machinery orders increased uncertainty over a recovery of capital investment in the coming months. Even with a rebound in core orders in September, Third quarter GDP due on Nov. 16 appears to be weak and may contract for a second straight quarter.
As well current account showed a surplus of ¥1.653 trillion in August, above the previous month's ¥1.037 trillion.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Basic Materials and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.73% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.80%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.90%.
Investors await the release of the minutes from the Fed's September meeting on Thursday for further hints on whether the U.S. central bank could raise short-term interest rates before the end of the year.
Last month, the FOMC voted to leave its benchmark Federal Funds Rate at its current rate between zero and 0.25%, marking the 55th consecutive meeting it decided to keep the rate unchanged at a near-zero level.
While one member of the FOMC, Richmond Fed president Jeffrey Lacker voted for an increase of 0.25%, four others felt that the Fed should wait until 2016 before raising short-term rates. By comparison in June, only two FOMC members were in favor of delaying a rate hike until next year.
While the FOMC indicated that it had seen significant improvements in the U.S. economy since it last met in July, it also expressed concern that significant headwinds from weakness in China and the global economy overall could restrain domestic growth.
Following the meeting, Fed chair Janet Yellen said it was likely the FOMC could hike rates by the end of the year barring unforeseen events over the next several weeks. Last week, though, a dismal U.S. jobs report for September could have planted seeds of doubt among FOMC members whether a rate hike this year should be appropriate.
On Tuesday, San Francisco Fed president John Williams reiterated that he still believes the FOMC will raise rates in 2015. Even so, Williams expects the pace of rate hikes to be the "most gradual tightening cycle in the history of the Fed."