SINGAPORE — Japan’s Tokyo Stock Exchange halted trading on Thursday due to a technical issue, while many major markets in the region are closed for holidays.
Japan Exchange Group said in a Thursday release that the Tokyo Stock Exchange has stopped trading for the day following a “system glitch.” It added that it cannot say at this point when trading can resume.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 1.62%. Singapore’s Straits Times index also rose 1.46%.
Markets in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are closed on Thursday for holidays.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.46% higher.
In corporate developments, shares of Singapore telecommunications firm Singtel jumped more than 2% in Thursday morning trade after the firm announced that its CEO is set to retire on Jan. 1, 2021.
On the economic data front, the headline large manufacturers index in the Bank of Japan’s quarterly tankan business sentiment survey came in at minus 27, against expectations of a minus 23 reading in a Reuters poll. Still, that was better than the minus 34 reading in June.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 329.04 points, or 1.2%, to close at 27,781.70. The S&P 500 added 0.8% to end its trading day at 3,363.00, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7% to close at 11,167.51.
The moves on Wall Street came as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin failed to strike a coronavirus aid deal. The two will continue talks as they try to craft a fifth package that could pass both chambers of Congress.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 93.736 in a week that has seen it decline from levels above 94.2.
The Japanese yen traded at 105.44 per dollar after seeing levels above 105.6 against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7178 following its rise yesterday from levels below $ 0.715.
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asian trading hours. Brent crude futures were down slightly at $ 42.28 per barrel. U.S. crude futures were 0.15% lower at $ 40.16 per barrel.
— CNBC’s Yun Li contributed to this report.
