Asian shares followed Wall Street's lead from overnight, gaining on Wednesday after the S&P 500 closed at its second straight record.
Ahead, China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index due at the weekend will be crucial for regional bourses.The gains in Asia however were modest with the Hang Seng index up 0.83%, the Shanghai Composite gaining 0.16% and the Nikkei 225 edging 0.04% in morning trade.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.2% as Sydney hit a four-week high and South Korea's KOSPI added 0.4%.
In corporate news, Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:8801) sank 6.4% in Japan after the real-estate firm announced that it would raise up to ¥325 billion via a share offering--the company's first in three decades.
Overnight, U.S. stocks rose on upbeat economic indicators and on mergers and acquisitions news.
The Dow 30 rose 0.42%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.60%, while the NASDAQ Composite Composite index rose 1.22%.
The Conference Board reported earlier that its consumer confidence index rose to 83.0 this month from 81.7 in April, in line with market expectations.
Elsewhere, the Standard & Poor’s/ Case-Shiller house price index rose 12.4% in March from a year earlier, beating forecasts for a gain of 11.8% and following a rise of 12.9% in February.
Healthy wholesale pricing data firmed the greenback as well.
The Commerce Department reported earlier U.S. durable goods orders rose 0.8% in April, confounding expectations for a 0.5% fall, after a 3.6% increase in March, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated 2.9% rise.
Mergers and acquisitions news moved stock prices as well.
Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) shares rose after the pharmaceutical giant abandoned its $116 billion bid to acquire Astrazeneca Plc.
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