Japan’s Nikkei 225 rises more than 2% as SoftBank Group shares surge 8%

SINGAPORE — Shares in Japan led gains in Asia-Pacific during Wednesday morning trade, as investors monitored oil prices and continued to assess the outlook for U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy.

The Nikkei 225 rose 2.59% as shares of SoftBank Group jumped 8.03%. The Topix index advanced 1.98%.

In Hong Kong, shares of Xiaomi surged 5.49% after the firm announced Tuesday plans to repurchase shares in the open market “from time to time” at a maximum aggregate price of 10 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.28 billion). Xiaomi on Tuesday also announced a 21.4% year-over-year rise in its fourth-quarter revenue.

Shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent also jumped 1.49%, ahead of its fourth quarter and annual results announcement expected later on Wednesday.

The broader Hang Seng index in Hong Kong climbed 0.58%.

Mainland Chinese stocks lagged the broader region, with the Shanghai composite fractionally lower and the Shenzhen component declining around 0.1%.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.75%. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.42%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.55% higher.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 98.494 following a recent drop from above 98.8.