Asia-Pacific markets rise following Wall Street bounce

SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific shares traded higher on Thursday following the rally on Wall Street.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.76%, while the Topix index climbed 0.25%.

The Kospi in South Korea gained 0.33% and the Kosdaq advanced 0.65%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.21%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of China was 0.21% higher.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each gained more than 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.59%, pulled higher by tech stocks.

A better-than-expected services PMI reading for July gave investors confidence amid concerns about a U.S. recession.

Within the region, Alibaba and DBS report earnings on Thursday.

DBS, Singapore’s largest bank, reported a net profit of 1.82 billion Singapore dollars ($1.32 billion), the second highest in history, the bank said in a press release. That’s higher than the average forecast of 1.7 billion Singapore dollars, according to data from Refinitiv.

A Reuters report citing a single source said the world’s largest battery maker, CATL, will continue working toward delivering lower-cost lithium iron batteries to Ford Motor. CATL will also produce batteries in North America by 2026, the Wednesday report said.

Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that CATL was delaying its decision on a North America plant.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 106.477, higher than earlier this week.

The Japanese yen traded at 133.70 per dollar, weaker than levels seen earlier this week. The Australian dollar was at $0.6938.

Oil futures inched up on Thursday after Brent settled 3.7% lower and U.S. crude fell 4% on Wednesday following U.S. data that showed crude and gasoline stockpiles rose unexpectedly.

U.S. crude rose 0.67% to $91.27 per barrel, while Brent crude gained 0.64% to $97.40 per barrel.