Asia-Pacific markets trade higher after U.S. stocks rally for a second day

Abigail Ng

Shares in the Asia-Pacific traded higher on Wednesday after U.S. stocks rallied for a second day.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.66% in early morning trade, going back above the 27,000 level, while the Topix added 0.72%.

In South Korea, the Kospi advanced 1.48% and the Kosdaq gained 1.36% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200

was up 1.62%. On the economic front, inflation in South Korea slowed slightly in September, according to official data released Wednesday.

Mainland China markets remain closed for the Golden Week holiday, and India’s market is also closed for a holiday.

TICKER	COMPANY	NAME	PRICE	CHANGE	%CHANGE
.N225	Nikkei 225 Index	*NIKKEI	27090.25	98.04	0.36
.HSI	Hang Seng Index	*HSI	17079.51	0	0
.AXJO	S&P/ASX 200	*ASX 200	6804.5	105.2	1.57
.SSEC	Shanghai	*SHANGHAI	3024.39	-16.81	-0.55
.KS11	KOSPI Index	*KOSPI	2216.8	7.42	0.34
.FTFCNBCA	CNBC 100 ASIA IDX	*CNBC 100	7154.36	89.17	1.26

On Wall Street overnight, stocks soared overnight in the U.S. for a second session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 825.43 points, or 2.8%, to 30,316.32. The S&P 500 advanced nearly 3.1% to close at 3,790.93, and the Nasdaq Composite was 3.3% higher to end at 11,176.41.

“There is no denying incoming U.S. economic data is having a hand in equity, bond and currency moves so far this week,” wrote Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank.

The U.S. Job Openings and Labor Turnover report sprang a “big downside surprise” that couldn’t be ignored, he wrote. It’s the “first meaningful sign of some cracks” in the labor market, though it is still very tight, he added.

— CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel and Alex Harring contributed to this report.

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South Korea inflation eased slightly in September

Consumer prices in South Korea rose less than expected in September from a year ago, official data showed. The CPI print came in at 5.6%, compared with 5.7% that economists polled by Reuters predicted. Prices rose 5.7% in August. September’s reading marks a second month of softening in inflation, and the slowest growth in four months.

— Abigail Ng

Dollar index falls back to 110

One factor helping equity markets on Tuesday could be a slightly weaker dollar, which is falling for the fifth-straight day. The DXY US Dollar Currency Index was down 1.5% in afternoon trading at 110.06. The index was trading as high as 114.78 last week, when there was concern about a failure of the UK government bond market.

Dollar index retreats from highs Chart

The British pound and the euro were each more than 1% against the dollar on Tuesday. The greenback was also down against the Japanese yen.

—Jesse Pound, Gina Francolla

Source : CNBC