Most of the stocks in Asia were already at the positive territory on Thursday’s opening session after a strong finish from U.S. markets. Meanwhile, markets in the Korean Strait were weaker than its major peers as Kospi opened flat on the day.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged up as high as 2.42 percent, following the opening of markets after a long holiday break. Almost all of its sectors were at the green zone as auto, technology and financial stocks were all the top of the benchmark. Heavyweight SoftBank Group, Toyota and Honda all jumped by 4.2 percent, 2.04 percent and 2.02 percent respectively.
The Aussie benchmark ASX 200 index was 0.14 percent up on early trade driven by the best performance from its energy sub-indexes. The price of oil notched their best level in more than 2 years on the previous day. Producers of oil and gas were some of the leading advancers to the index with Woodside adding 2.32 percent in shares and Oil Search surging by 2.19 percent.
However, the Kospi index in South Korea didn’t follow the trend as it dropped by 0.57 percent at the markets open. Tech giants in the nation were a mixed picture with memory semiconductor supplier SK Hynix adding 2.61 percent in shares and Samsung Electronics declining by 1.2 percent.
South Korean automakers were also on the red with Kia Motors falling by 2.61 percent and Hyundai Motor slipping by 2.66 percent in shares. Shipbuilders were also a mixed picture after rallying in the New Year. Daewoo Shipbuilding was 1.74 percent lower and Hyundai Heavy Industries rose more than 5.56 percent.