Investing.com - Stocks rose in Asia on Thursday, buoyed by a string of solid manufacturing reports hitting the wire in the U.S., Europe and in Asia, which prompted a global dollar selloff and a worldwide shopping spree in equities markets.
During early Asian trading on Wednesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 1.39%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up 1.06%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was up 0.86%.
European and German Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Indices came in better than expected on Wednesday, as did similar data in China and in the U.K. as well.
In the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management said its January index of national factory activity rose to 54.1, up from 53.1 the month before, and although slightly below market expectations, still robust nonetheless.
In the U.S., data from payroll company Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported that the economy added 170,000 nonfarm payrolls in January, below expectations although manufacturing data offset the jobs numbers.
Healthy manufacturing data sparked an equities rally in U.S. and European markets, which carried over into early Asian trading on Thursday.
"We got more confirmation that business confidence in the U.S. and Europe is improving," said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about $600 million at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. in Tokyo, according to Bloomberg.
"The European debt crisis is in a temporary lull, so stocks sensitive to the economy will have a chance to gain."
In Hong Kong, the top gainers included CNOOC, up 2.69%, HSBC Holdings, up 2.65%, and ICBC, up 2.43%.
In Australia, the top gainers included Lynas Corp., up 16.10%, Gunns Limited, up 13.04%, and Pacific Brands, up 5.51%.
European stock futures indicated a higher opening.
France's CAC 40 futures pointed to a gain of 0.36%, while Germany ’s DAX 30 futures signaled a gain of 0.30%. Meanwhile, in the U.K., the FTSE 100 futures indicated a gain of 0.18%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.20% while the S&P 500 futures were up 0.22%.
The U.S. is looking ahead to Friday's official unemployment data, although on Thursday, markets will pay attention to initial jobless claims as well as preliminary data on nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs in the U.S..
Later Thursday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to testify on the economic outlook before the House budget committee.
The U.K. is to produce industry data on construction sector activity, a leading indicator of economic health.
Talk of progress relating to Greece and its efforts to restructure its debts with private creditor could send stocks rising.
During early Asian trading on Wednesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 1.39%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up 1.06%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was up 0.86%.
European and German Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Indices came in better than expected on Wednesday, as did similar data in China and in the U.K. as well.
In the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management said its January index of national factory activity rose to 54.1, up from 53.1 the month before, and although slightly below market expectations, still robust nonetheless.
In the U.S., data from payroll company Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported that the economy added 170,000 nonfarm payrolls in January, below expectations although manufacturing data offset the jobs numbers.
Healthy manufacturing data sparked an equities rally in U.S. and European markets, which carried over into early Asian trading on Thursday.
"We got more confirmation that business confidence in the U.S. and Europe is improving," said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about $600 million at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. in Tokyo, according to Bloomberg.
"The European debt crisis is in a temporary lull, so stocks sensitive to the economy will have a chance to gain."
In Hong Kong, the top gainers included CNOOC, up 2.69%, HSBC Holdings, up 2.65%, and ICBC, up 2.43%.
In Australia, the top gainers included Lynas Corp., up 16.10%, Gunns Limited, up 13.04%, and Pacific Brands, up 5.51%.
European stock futures indicated a higher opening.
France's CAC 40 futures pointed to a gain of 0.36%, while Germany ’s DAX 30 futures signaled a gain of 0.30%. Meanwhile, in the U.K., the FTSE 100 futures indicated a gain of 0.18%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.20% while the S&P 500 futures were up 0.22%.
The U.S. is looking ahead to Friday's official unemployment data, although on Thursday, markets will pay attention to initial jobless claims as well as preliminary data on nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs in the U.S..
Later Thursday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to testify on the economic outlook before the House budget committee.
The U.K. is to produce industry data on construction sector activity, a leading indicator of economic health.
Talk of progress relating to Greece and its efforts to restructure its debts with private creditor could send stocks rising.