· Stocks rose on Thursday as Apple and Micron surged to lead the tech sector higher. Investor sentiment was also boosted by the Federal Reserve's updated outlook on interest-rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 216.84 points higher at 25,962.51 as a 3.7 percent gain in Apple offset a decline of 1.6 percent in J.P. Morgan Chase. The S&P 500 closed 1.1 percent higher at 2,854.88 while the Nasdaq Composite outperformed, rising 1.4 percent to 7,838.96.
· Stocks in Asia traded higher on Friday morning following an overnight surge on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting a gain of more than 200 points.
The broad MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose 0.23 percent to 531.30, as of 8:22 a.m. HK/SIN.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.27 percent in early trade, as shares of index heavyweights Softbank Group and Fanuc jumped by 2.05 percent and 1.30 percent, respectively. The Topix index also advanced 0.13 percent.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi rose 0.36 percent. Shares of tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 1.09 percent and chipmaker SK Hynix saw its stock jump 1.58 percent, maintaining their Thursday momentum following an overnight skyrocket in Micron shares stateside after the company signaled that a recovery in the memory chip sector is coming later in the year.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia gained in morning trade as the ASX 200 advanced 0.81 percent, with almost all the sectors in positive territory.
Reference: CNBC
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