Hong Kong - Asian shares rose to the highest level since December 2007 on strong earnings from some of the region’s key companies and the Federal Reserve’s signal that inflation remains persistently below its target.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1%, the most since June 2, to 160.81 as of 10:47, with all of its sector gauges rising. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index extended losses after the Fed held rates steady and indicated it would start unwinding its balance sheet “relatively soon.”
"Investors are cheering a slower pace at which the Fed may unwind its balance sheet," Nelson Yan, a Hong Kong-based executive director at CCB Securities. "The rally will likely continue into the fourth quarter as long as inflation stays mild."
China Evergrande Group became the biggest gainer on the Asian benchmark with a 14% rise, a day after surging 18% on a positive profit outlook. PetroChina advanced 0.4% in Hong Kong as oil held above $48 a barrel.
Japan’s Topix climbed as electronics-related shares advanced on earnings optimism.
Nintendo shares surged 7.6% after the company surprised investors with a big jump in quarterly profit, driven by software sales for its new Switch console. Samsung Electronics rose as much as 1.6% before erasing gains, as profit and sales beat estimates with the success of its new Galaxy S8 smartphones.
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE UPDATE: Get Fin24's top morning business news and opinions in your inbox.
Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter: Fin24’s top stories