SINGAPORE- Asian stocks bucked the global trend to extend a China-led rally on Thursday, fueled by persistent optimism over the country’s aggressive stimulus package and news that more support could be in the works.
Oil prices reversed early gains to trade lower on a report that Saudi Arabia is preparing to abandon its unofficial price target of $100 a barrel for crude as it prepares to increase output.
Brent crude futures fell 0.88 percent to $72.81 a barrel, while US crude shed 0.9 percent to $69.06 per barrel.
In the broader market, equities in Asia got an additional boost on Thursday after China’s leaders pledged to support the struggling economy through “forceful” interest rate cuts and adjustments to fiscal and monetary policies, among other things.
The news came just hours after a report that said Beijing is considering injecting up to 1 trillion yuan ($142.39 billion) of capital into its biggest state banks.
Chinese stocks extended their gains on the back of the announcement, with the CSI300 blue-chip index last up 1.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.62 percent.
The CSI mainland real estate index jumped 5 percent, as Beijing also said it would make efforts to pull the beleaguered real estate sector out of its slump.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 3 percent, while the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index surged 9 percent.
That propelled MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan to an over two-year high, with the index last up 1.5 percent. Japan’s Nikkei similarly rode the wave of buying and gained 2.5 percent.
Futures pointed to a strong opening in Europe, with EUROSTOXX 50 adding 0.67 percent. FTSE futures gained 0.43 percent.
S&P 500 futures added 0.55 percent, while Nasdaq futures jumped 1 percent.
Investors also had their eye on a raft of speeches from Federal Reserve policymakers later in the day, including remarks from Chair Jerome Powell, which could provide further clues on the US rate outlook.
The release of the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index – the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation – is also due on Friday.
