Asian Shares Follow Wall Street Higher On US Rate Cut Optimism

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks hit record highs on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank will make interest rate decisions "when and as" they are needed, regardless of political factors.

Amid rising hopes for a September rate cut, investors awaited the release of U.S. CPI report later in the day for further direction.

Economists forecast annual U.S. CPI slowed to 3.1 percent in June from 3.3 percent in May.

Bonds and the dollar were broadly steady in Asian trade and gold ticked higher while oil extended gains after OPEC maintained its demand forecast.

Chinese shares rallied ahead of next week's political meetings of the Communist Party and the release of key economic indicators by the National Bureau of Statistics on July 15. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index climbed 1.06 percent to 2,970.39.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 2.06 percent to 17,832.33, a day after China's securities regulator announced more curbs on short selling.

Japanese markets reached new highs as investors pondered over the prospect of U.S. interest-rate cuts.

The Nikkei average jumped 0.94 percent to 42,224.02, breaking past 42,000 points for the first time ever. The broader Topix index settled 0.69 percent higher at 2,929.17. Fast Retailing rose 2.3 percent after the owner of clothing brand Uniqlo raised its forecast for what would be its third consecutive year of record-high profits. Sony surged 3.6 percent and Sumco soared 5.9 percent.

Japan's core machinery orders unexpectedly fell for a second straight month in May, government data showed today, raising some concerns over BOJ interest-rate policy.

Seoul stocks rose notably as the Bank of Korea kept its benchmark interest rate steady at 3.5 percent for 12th time and signaled a dovish shift in its policy stance. The Kospi average gained 0.81 percent to close at 2,891.35.

Australian markets hit a two-month high, led by mining, energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.93 percent to 7,889.60 while the broader All Ordinaries index added 0.93 percent to finish at 8,133.40.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index climbed 0.96 percent to 12,058.29 as traders repriced in rate-cut expectations.

U.S. stocks rose sharply overnight as investors braced for key economic data and corporate earnings releases.

The S&P 500 rallied 1 percent to close above 5,600 for the first time ever and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.2 percent to finish higher for the seventh consecutive session as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing easily beat expectations for June sales. The Dow climbed 1.1 percent to end just shy of its own record.