Asian equity markets were mostly higher on Thursday following a positive U.S. lead while traders brace for a highly-anticipated European Central Bank meeting. A raft of U.S. data saw Wall Street shares gain overnight. The Federal Reserves Beige Book of regional business conditions found growth expansion in all of the Feds 12 districts while the ISM non-manufacturing index rose to 56.3 in May. That beat estimates and offset Mays ADP report, which saw the creation of 179,000 private jobs, below expectations for 215,000. Nikkei 0.3% higher. Japanese shares rose to a new two-month peak for the fourth straight session while the yen hovered near the previous days one-month low of 102.79 per dollar. Kospi dips 0.2%. South Korean shares resumed trade lower following Wednesdays public holiday as traders awaited revised first-quarter gross domestic product data. CNBC HSI June 2014 ->22997 (+5) Nikkei June 2014 -> 15110 (+60) Kospi June 2014 -> 261.15 (-0.50) (0051GMT)
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 00:52:01 +0000