Asian shares advance on upbeat data, investors await Fed

Asian share markets advanced, while the dollar shed gains on Thursday. This could be attributed to investors’ upbeat sentiment over strong industrial figures from China and encouraging developments in vaccine clinical trials.

China’s blue-chip index was seen 0.4% higher. The jump followed after Chinese data showed that the country’s industrial output expanded for five straight months, growing 5.6% in August from a year earlier.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced for four consecutive days as it recorded a 0.3% gain. Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei dropped 0.8%, while South Korean shares had seen a 0.3% increase. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.1%.

Meanwhile, market strategists believe that the electoral victory of Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga will drive Japanese equities up.