Asian markets mostly rose on Friday after the Dow closed above the psychological 16,000 level for the first time on the back of a slew of upbeat economic data.
The general upbeat outlook helped the dollar extended its gains against the yen, while the euro remained buoyant after the head of the European Central Bank quelled rumours of a further interest rate cut.
Tokyo rose 1.23 percent by the break, Sydney jumped 0.95 percent, Seoul added 0.40 percent and Hong Kong was up 0.63 percent while Shanghai was flat.
Traders took a lead from New York, where the Dow rallied to another record high thanks to data showing a drop in weekly US jobless claims and a pick-up in manufacturing activity in November.
Analysts also cited the Senate Banking Committee’s confirmation of Federal Reserve vice chair Janet Yellen to take over the central bank.
Yellen is considered a fiscal dove who favours keeping the Fed’s stimulus programme in place for as long as needed.
On Wall Street the Dow rose 0.69 percent to close at 16,009.99 — the index has now surged more than 20 percent since the start of the year. The S&P 500 jumped 0.81 percent and the Nasdaq added 1.22 percent.
The positive sentiment lifted the dollar against the yen, which is considered a safe haven in times of economic uncertainty.
The dollar bought 101.25 yen compared with 101.16 yen in New York. The gains come despite Fed minutes on Wednesday showing policymakers considering winding down its $85 billion a month bond-buying scheme.
The euro held up after enjoying a lift on Thursday in New York in response to Mario Draghi’s move to temper talk of a rate cut that had been swirling markets on Wednesday.
The ECB head said the bank was not planning to take one of its key rates — the deposit rate — to negative territory from zero percent.
“Let me be clear… don’t try to infer from what I say today anything on the possibility of negative rate on the deposit facility,” he told a meeting of business leaders in Berlin.
“As I said in the last press conference, it was discussed in the last meeting and there are no news since then. No more news.”
The single currency fetched $1.3469 in Tokyo morning trade against $1.3478 in New York, while it also sat at 136.31 yen from 136.34 yen.
In oil trade New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for January delivery, was down 21 cents at $95.23 in early Asian trade while Brent North Sea crude for January fell seven cents to $110.01.
Gold fetched $1,244.70 per ounce at 0230 GMT compared with $1,247.52 on Thursday.
Source: Reuters
