Asian stocks rose broadly on Thursday on hopes that a Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate will be a net positive for economic growth globally.<\/p>\n
Chinese stocks extended gains for a sixth straight session after the country’s central bank pledged to keep its monetary policy accommodative in 2021, focusing on supporting small firms as the economy<\/span> recovers.<\/p>\n The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 25.33 points, or 0.7 percent, to finish at 3,576.20, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended down 0.5 percent at 27,548.52.<\/p>\n Japanese shares hit a 30-year high as sharp rises in U.S. bond yields on expectations of additional U.S. stimulus spending boosted banks and insurers.<\/p>\n The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 434.19 points, or 1.6 percent, to 27,490.13, snapping a four-day losing streak. The broader Topix closed 1.7 percent higher at 1,826.30.<\/p>\n Insurer Dai-ichi Life Holdings soared 7.4 percent, while lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rose 3.5 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial added 5.5 percent. Steelmaker Nippon Steel surged 7.8 percent.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, SoftBank Group dropped 1.6 percent on news the Trump administration is considering adding Alibaba to a blacklist of Chinese companies. Softbank is the largest shareholder of the Chinese e-commerce giant.<\/p>\n Australian markets<\/span> rallied as a Democrat sweep in U.S. Senate races lifted stimulus hopes. Closer to home, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the national cabinet will meet a month earlier than scheduled to discuss strengthening border processes amid the spread of a more contagious variant of Covid-19 that emerged in Britain.<\/p>\n The benchmark S&P\/ASX 200 Index climbed 104.90 points, or 1.6 percent, to 6,712, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended up 99.10 points, or 1.4 percent, at 6,980.50.<\/p>\n Woodside Petroleum, Oil Search and Santos surged 5-7 percent as oil prices rose for a third day on data showing a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude stockpiles and amid Saudi Arabia’s pledge to cut output.<\/p>\n Mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto jumped 6.1 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively, while the big four banks rose 2-4 percent.<\/p>\n Gold miners ended broadly lower after gold futures settled with a loss of more than 2 percent on Wednesday.<\/p>\n In economic news, a government report showed that Australia had a merchandise trade surplus of A$5.022 billion in November – shy of expectations for a surplus of A$6 billion and down from the downwardly revised A$6.583 billion in October.<\/p>\n Another report revealed the total number of building permits issued in the country rose a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent month-on-month in November.<\/p>\n Seoul stocks hit another record high amid strong foreign and institutional buying. The benchmark Kospi jumped 63.47 points, or 2.1 percent, to close about the 3,000-point mark for the first time on hopes of near-term fiscal stimulus under the Biden administration. SK Hynix and Samsung SDI both climbed around 2.7 percent, while LG Chem soared 8.1 percent.<\/p>\n New Zealand shares rose sharply, with the benchmark NZX 50 index ending up 151.74 points, or 1.1 percent, at 13,485.67, led by financials and utilities.<\/p>\n U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as the results of the highly anticipated Georgia Senate runoff elections pointed to Democratic control of Congress, putting big tech antitrust laws back into focus.<\/p>\n The ADP employment report painted a bleak picture for the labor market, while minutes from the Fed’s meeting last month released later in the day showed FOMC members favored maintaining the current composition of purchases.<\/p>\n The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.4 percent to reach a fresh record closing high and the S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.6 percent. <\/p>\n