The Exchange Square Complex, which houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets rose Thursday morning as investors assessed soft economic data from the U.S. and a shortened trading session in which the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to new highs.
Investors will assess data due Thursday, including Hong Kong business activity and Australian trade.
Australia’s trade surplus was expected to narrow to 6.3 billion Australian dollars ($4.23 billion) from about AU$ 6.5 billion.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.55% in early trading, while the the Topix jumped 0.56%. The Nikkei is less than 150 points from its all-time high of 40,888.43.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.98%, while the Kosdaq was up 0.75%
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.08%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 18,012, higher than the HSI’s last close of 17,978.57.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 added 0.51%, closing at 5,537.02. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.88% to end at 18,188.30 as tech giants like Tesla and Nvidia rallied.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.06% to end at 39,308, weighed down by a drop in UnitedHealth.
—CNBC’s Alex Harring and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.