Asian stocks advanced on Thursday, propelled by strong U.S. earnings and oil prices near a 15-month high, while the Mexican peso hit a six-week high after the final U.S. presidential debate before the Nov. 8 election.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 percent. Japan's Nikkei extended gains to 1.1 percent as the yen weakened.
Japan's Nikkei share average rose to a near six-month high on Thursday taking cues from rising U.S. stocks, as investors priced in the outcome of the final U.S. presidential election debate, which a snap poll suggested was won by Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
The Nikkei rose 1.4 percent to 17,235.50, the highest closing level since April 27.
China stocks barely moved on Thursday as investors weighed the implications of a slew of economic data released this week.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.1 percent, to 3,318.60, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended at 3,084.46 points, almost exactly where it closed on Wednesday.
Hong Kong shares closed up on Thursday, led by a jump in energy shares as China raised retail prices of gasoline.
The Hang Seng index rose 0.3 percent, to 23,374.40, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.5 percent, to 9,686.38 points.
Reference: Reuters
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