Asian Shares Rise After Wall St. Rallies

Asian benchmarks were mostly higher on Thursday after US stocks rallied to records following the Federal Reserve’s indication that it expects to deliver interest rate cuts later this year, according to Yuri Kageyama's report for the Associated Press (AP).

The S&P 500 has already gained 9.5% so far this year, slightly outperforming the average for a full year over the last two decades.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.6% to 40,676.77 after the government reported exports grew nearly 8% in February from a year earlier, marking the third straight month of increase.

Hong Kong’s benchmark jumped 1.8% to 16,836.46 while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.2%, dropping to 3,073.37, after the Chinese government announced fresh measures to support the economy.

Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5% to 7,735.40. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.5% to 2,729.64.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 jumped 0.9% to 5,224.62, marking an all-time high for a second straight day. It has already gained 9.5% so far this year, slightly outperforming the average for a full year over the last two decades.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1% to 39,512.13 and the Nasdaq composite surged 1.3% higher to 16,369.41. Both also reached record levels, as reported by Stan Choe for AP.s

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