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Hong Kong - Most Asian stock markets rose on Thursday following a positive lead from Wall Street, as investors look ahead to an expected Bank of England rate cut and the release of US jobs data.
Oil prices extended gains in Asia, giving a lift to energy and mining stocks after mixed data from the US Department of Energy showed crude supplies up, but falling gasoline stock.
A better-than-expected reading on US private jobs also supported a Wall Street rally, with payroll firm ADP reporting that private US companies added 179 000 jobs in July, slightly better than expected.
"Oil has once again established itself as the central thematic behind the world's financial markets," said Chris Weston, an analyst for IG in Melbourne.
"US data was largely upbeat, with the ADP private payrolls providing some belief that Friday's non-farm payrolls will not be a repeat of the woeful print we saw in May."
The US Labour Department is due to announce official job-creation data for July on Friday, with markets looking for signs that could increase the likelihood of a hike in US interest rates.
Sydney rose 0.5%, while Hong Kong also got a lift after a heavy sell-off in the previous session, putting on 0.6%.
Seoul added 0.2% while Jakarta, Manila and Bangkok were also up.
But Tokyo shares slipped 0.4% by the break after a rally at the start of trade fizzled, with a stronger yen hitting exporters, adding to a more than three percent drop over the past two days.
The greenback fell to ¥101.12 from ¥101.25 on Wednesday in New York.
A stronger Japanese currency hits the repatriated profits of Japan's exporters and makes their products more expensive overseas.
Shanghai dipped 0.4% as investors stayed on the side lines awaiting the release of economic data next week, dealers said.
Bank of England meeting
The gains in Asia came after British stocks dipped as data suggested an economic hit from the Brexit vote, just ahead of a key Bank of England policy decision.
Data monitoring company Markit's preliminary composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the services industry in Britain sank to 47.4 points in July, down from 52.3 in June. A reading under 50 indicates contraction.
Market watchers expect the Bank of England on Thursday to cut interest rates to a record-low 0.25% and to potentially boost its bond-buying stimulus programme.
Energy and mining companies gave Asia a lift, after oil prices rose markedly overnight following several days of losses.
At around 03:30 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was at $41.16 a barrel while North Sea Brent was trading at $43.33.
Among the biggest gainers were Sydney-listed WorleyParsons, adding 4.5%, Origin Energy which was up 3% and BHP Biliton, which rose 2.3%. In Hong Kong, CNOOC put on 3.6%.
Energy-linked shares in Tokyo also recorded gains, with explorer Inpex jumping 1.48% to ¥778 and oil refiner JX Holdings edging up 0.10% at ¥375.9.
