Asian Shares Broadly Higher In Thin Holiday Trade

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks held recent gains in thin holiday trade on Thursday, with Japanese markets closed on account of Workers Day.

Underlying sentiment remained supported somewhat on expectations that the rate-hike cycle has ended globally and rate cuts might begin next year.

Gold nudged higher to trade close to the key $2,000 per ounce level in Asian trade, buoyed by broad dollar weakness and lower U.S. Treasury yields.

Oil prices fell over 1 percent to extend losses from the previous session on signs of increasing U.S. inventories and amid disappointment over postponement of the OPEC+ ministerial meeting.

China's Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.60 percent to 3,061.86 boosted by Beijing's latest measures to boost the country's struggling property market.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 0.99 percent to 17,910.84 after Bloomberg reported late on Wednesday that Country Garden Holdings Co. and Sino-Ocean Group have been included on China's draft list of 50 developers eligible for a range of financing support.

Separately, Reuters reported that Chinese government advisers will recommend to an annual policymakers' meeting that economic growth targets for next year be set at 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent.

Seoul stocks ended marginally higher, with the Kospi average rising 0.13 percent to 2,514.96. Hyundai Motor, Korean Air, LG Chem and Korea Electric Power rose 1-3 percent.

Australian markets fell as declines in iron ore and crude prices weighed on the commodity sector. Weal manufacturing data also dented investor sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.62 percent to 7,029.20 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.60 percent lower at 7,234.20.

AMP shares soared 5.9 percent after the investment manager said it had settled a class action brought on behalf of certain advice practices authorised by AMP Financial Planning.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P NZX-50 index inched up 0.16 percent to close at 11,187.52.

U.S. stocks ended slightly higher overnight ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. A spate of economic data, including jobless claims, durable goods, and consumer sentiment, suggested that the economy is softening but is still resilient enough to potentially avoid recession as the Federal Reserve prefers.

The Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both gained around half a percent while the S&P 500 inched up 0.4 percent.