- Stocks in Asia edged higher in Thursday morning trade.
- In the oil markets, international benchmark Brent crude futures gained 2.9% to $20.96 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate for June delivery also surged 6.1% to $14.62 per barrel.
- Overnight stateside, stocks rose for the first time in three days.
Stocks in Asia traded higher on Thursday morning following an overnight rebound in oil prices that recouped some recent losses.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.88% in early trade while the Topix index gained 0.7%. South Korea's Kospi also edged 0.55% higher.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia advanced, with the S&P/ASX 200 0.96% higher.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.18% higher.
In the oil markets, international benchmark Brent crude futures gained 2.9% to $20.96 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate for June delivery also surged 6.1% to $14.62 per barrel.
That came after a surge in prices overnight that regained some of the sharp losses seen recently. Brent settled $1.04, or 5.38%, higher at $20.37. WTI June delivery also rose $2.21, or 19.1%, to settle at $13.78 per barrel. The moves came following a volatile session overnight that at one point saw Brent trading below $17 per barrel while WTI had touched as low as $10.26 per barrel.
Overnight stateside, stocks rose for the first time in three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 456.94 points, or nearly 2%, to close at 23,475.82. The S&P 500 climbed 2.3% to finish its trading day at 2,799.31 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.8% to close at 8,495.38.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 100.474 after seeing lows around 100 yesterday.
The Japanese yen traded at 107.82 per dollar after seeing levels below 107.6 earlier in the trading week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6299 following a decline from levels around $0.635 yesterday.
What's on tap for Thursday:
- Singapore: Consumer Price Index for March at 1:00 p.m. HK/SIN
Source: cnbc.com
