Asian shares rise, taking their cue from Wall Street's winning streak

Asian shares rose on Thursday, taking their cue from Wall Street, where a winning streak extended to a fourth straight day.

US futures were nearly unchanged while oil prices declined.

Japan's Nikkei 225 added 1 per cent to 50,069.33 as investors bet that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its December 10 meeting.

The Japanese government also reportedly plans to issue 11 trillion yen ($70.5 billion) in new bonds to fund its economic package. Tech-related stocks advanced, with SoftBank Group jumping 2.8 per cent and Kioxia Holdings up 5.7 per cent following a nearly 15 per cent rout the day before.

In Chinese markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index picked up 0.3 per cent to 25,927.96, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1 per cent higher, to 3,883.01.

Gains were tempered by data that showed profits for the first ten months of 2025 at major Chinese industrial firms rose a lackluster 1.9 per cent year-on-year, down from 3.2 per cent growth in the previous period.

In South Korea, the Kospi added 0.7 per cent to 3,986.54 after the Bank of Korea also kept its policy rate unchanged at 2.5 per cent, supporting financial stability amid a weakened currency and market concerns on rising housing prices.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose less than 0.1 per cent to 8,610.50 while Taiwan's tech-heavy Taiex index added 0.2 per cent.

On Wednesday, US stocks closed broadly higher, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.7 per cent to 6,812.61. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 per cent to 47,427.12, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.8 per cent to 23,214.69.

Stocks have been rallying as comments from Federal Reserve officials have given traders more confidence the central bank will again cut interest rates at its meeting in December. Traders are betting on a nearly 83 per cent probability that the Fed will cut next month, according to data from CME Group.

Solid gains for technology companies led the rally, though most sectors in the benchmark S&P 500 index finished higher. Gainers also outnumbered decliners by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

US markets have a shortened trading week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, closing on Thursday and opening for shorter hours on Friday.

The market's recent rebound, fueled by investor hopes for another Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December, has helped erase most of the major indexes' losses following a bout of selling earlier this month.

Dell Technologies climbed 5.8 per cent after saying it has received record orders for its artificial intelligence servers. Dell and other technology companies had fallen earlier in the month as investors worried the prices for their stocks had gotten too frothy amid the frenzy over AI. Nvidia, the market's most valuable company, rose 1.4 per cent.

Microsoft gained 1.8 per cent and Broadcom added 3.3 per cent.

Financial sector stocks also helped lift the market. Robinhood Markets jumped 10.9 per cent for the biggest gain among S&P 500 companies after the trading platform said it plans to roll out a futures and derivatives exchange next year to expand its predictions market business.

Urban Outfitters joined a host of other retailers this week in reporting earnings that exceeded Wall Street forecasts, and its shares jumped 13.5 per cent.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 3.99 per cent and the yield on the 2-year Treasury rose to 3.48 per cent.

In other dealings early Thursday, US benchmark crude shed 28 cents to $58.37 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard lost 33 cents to $61.84 per barrel.

The US dollar slipped to 156.14 Japanese yen from 156.40. The euro rose to $1.1609 from $1.1601.