Investing.com - Asian stocks rose on Thursday after sales of new homes in the U.S. beat expectations.
During Asian trading on Thursday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.22%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up 0.27%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was up 0.67%.
U.S. new home sales outpaced expectations in September, hitting levels not seen since April 2010, sparking demand for risk especially in Asian equities bourses.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported earlier that new home sales rose by 5.7% to a seasonally adjusted 389,000 units in September, beating expectations for a 3.2% increase to 385,000.
New home sales for August were revised down to 368,000 units from a previously reported 373,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in September fell 3.2% to USD242,200.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve announced earlier that it left interest rates and monetary policy unchanged, pointing out that elevated unemployment rates and headwinds from abroad merit ongoing asset purchases from banks, a monetary policy tool known as quantitative easing.
Easing measures send global stock prices up as side effects to lower interest rates in the U.S., and Fed language suggested that talk of policy changes won't come about for a while.
"The Committee remains concerned that, without sufficient policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions," the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's rate-setting body, said in a statement.
"If the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially, the Committee will continue its purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities, undertake additional asset purchases, and employ its other policy tools as appropriate until such improvement is achieved in a context of price stability."
In Hong Kong, top gainers included Esprit Holdings, up 3.73%, China Resources Power, up 2.26%, and CITIC Pacific, up 2.07%.
In Australia, top gainers included Billabong International, up 5.81%, APN News & Media, up 5.71%, and Gryphon Minerals, up 4.58%.
European stock futures indicated a higher opening.
France's CAC 40 futures pointed to a gain of 0.48%, while Germany's DAX 30 futures pointed to a gain of 0.30%. Meanwhile in the U.K., FTSE 100 futures were up 0.28%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.36%, while the S&P 500 futures were up 0.44%.
Later Thursday, the U.S. is to release official data on durable goods orders, a leading indicator of production, as well as data on pending home sales and initial jobless claims.
Core Japanese inflation data will publish as well.
During Asian trading on Thursday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.22%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up 0.27%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was up 0.67%.
U.S. new home sales outpaced expectations in September, hitting levels not seen since April 2010, sparking demand for risk especially in Asian equities bourses.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported earlier that new home sales rose by 5.7% to a seasonally adjusted 389,000 units in September, beating expectations for a 3.2% increase to 385,000.
New home sales for August were revised down to 368,000 units from a previously reported 373,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in September fell 3.2% to USD242,200.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve announced earlier that it left interest rates and monetary policy unchanged, pointing out that elevated unemployment rates and headwinds from abroad merit ongoing asset purchases from banks, a monetary policy tool known as quantitative easing.
Easing measures send global stock prices up as side effects to lower interest rates in the U.S., and Fed language suggested that talk of policy changes won't come about for a while.
"The Committee remains concerned that, without sufficient policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions," the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's rate-setting body, said in a statement.
"If the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially, the Committee will continue its purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities, undertake additional asset purchases, and employ its other policy tools as appropriate until such improvement is achieved in a context of price stability."
In Hong Kong, top gainers included Esprit Holdings, up 3.73%, China Resources Power, up 2.26%, and CITIC Pacific, up 2.07%.
In Australia, top gainers included Billabong International, up 5.81%, APN News & Media, up 5.71%, and Gryphon Minerals, up 4.58%.
European stock futures indicated a higher opening.
France's CAC 40 futures pointed to a gain of 0.48%, while Germany's DAX 30 futures pointed to a gain of 0.30%. Meanwhile in the U.K., FTSE 100 futures were up 0.28%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.36%, while the S&P 500 futures were up 0.44%.
Later Thursday, the U.S. is to release official data on durable goods orders, a leading indicator of production, as well as data on pending home sales and initial jobless claims.
Core Japanese inflation data will publish as well.