- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Nobel winners hope protein work will spur 'incredible' breakthroughs
- What are proteins again? Nobel-winning chemistry explained
- AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins
- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
- Demis Hassabis, from chess prodigy to Nobel-winning AI pioneer
- Global stocks diverge as Chinese shares tumble
- Time runs out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Chad issues warning ahead of more devastating floods
- Creator's death no bar to new 'Dragon Ball' products
- Chinese stocks tumble on lack of fresh stimulus
- Trio wins chemistry Nobel for protein design, prediction
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
Asian markets tracked a record day on Wall Street Thursday, with Shanghai and Hong Kong supported by a Chinese central bank move to boost liquidity for major stock-buyers.
The yen sat around two-month lows after taking a hit in the wake of minutes showing Federal Reserve decision-makers were split on last month's bumper interest rate cut while a top official sparked questions about how many more could be in the pipeline.
Chinese investors were settling down after a volatile start to the week that saw mainland and Hong Kong markets whipsaw as the euphoria over last month's stimulus was dampened by a news conference that failed to unveil more measures or give details on those already announced.
Traders welcomed news that the People's Bank of China had released details of a "swap facility" that will allow "qualified securities, funds and insurance companies" to access more than $70 billion in liquidity to purchase equities.
The move, one of a number of measures announced last month, helped Shanghai rise more than one percent at one point, having dived more than six percent Wednesday -- its worst day in more than four years.
Hong Kong was up more than two percent, building on the previous day's advance that followed a more than nine percent plunge, its heftiest in 16 years.
Dealers are now keenly awaiting a Saturday news conference on fiscal policy by the finance ministry, though observers warned the bar would be high for Finance Minister Lan Fo'an if he is to get the recent market rally back on track.
The gains led a rally across Asia, which came after the Dow and S&P 500 chalked up fresh records on Wall Street thanks to a burst in tech giants including Amazon and Apple.
Tokyo was boosted by a drop in the yen fuelled by minutes from the Fed's September meeting, where it cut rates by 50 basis points but officials were split on the decision.
They showed that while the move was ultimately supported by 11-1, some "noted that there had been a plausible case for a 25 basis point rate cut at the previous meeting".
"Some participants observed that they would have preferred a 25 basis point reduction of the target range at this meeting, and a few others indicated that they could have supported such a decision," the minutes said.
Meanwhile, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said she had backed the big cut in order to "recalibrate" monetary policy and added that "two more cuts this year, or one more cut this year, really spans the range of what is likely in my mind, given my projection for the economy".
But she warned the bank would remain "data-dependent".
Focus now turns to the release of consumer price inflation later in the day and wholesale prices on Friday.
- Key figures around 0230 GMT -
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,286.30
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.3 percent at 21,105.19
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,395.05 (break)
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $73.55 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $76.88 per barrel
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 149.16 yen from 149.35 yen on Wednesday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0942 from $1.0940
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3071 from $1.3062
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.70 pence from 83.72 pence
New York - Dow: UP 1.0 percent at 42,512.00 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 8,243.74 (close)
M.García--CPN