SINGAPORE – Shares in Japan jumped on Friday after the S&P 500 surged to a record close overnight on Wall Street.
The Nikkei 225 surged 1.58% to close at 29,854 as shares of Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group popped 4.22%. The Topix rose 0.71% to finish the trading day at 1,971.62. In South Korea, the Kospi closed 0.82% higher at 3,112.80.
Mainland Chinese stocks also on the day. The Shanghai composite was up 0.52% to 3,484.39 while the Shenzhen component gained 1.02% to 14,122.61.
Most other major Asia-Pacific markets like Australia, Hong Kong, India and Singapore were closed for Good Friday. Elsewhere, markets in the U.S. and UK were also closed for Good Friday.
Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 crossed the 4,000 threshold for the first time and jumped 1.18% to a fresh record close of 4,019.87. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also surged 1.76% to end its trading day at 13,480.11 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 171.66 points to close at 33,153.21.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.927 – off levels above 93.3 seen earlier in the week.
The Japanese yen traded at 110.53 per dollar, weakening from levels below 109.8 against the greenback earlier in the week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7616, following a bounce yesterday from below $0.756.