Equity

Stocks in Asia mostly traded higher on Wednesday morning after the S&P 500and Nasdaq Composite closed in record high territory overnight on Wall Street.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.24% in early trade. The Topix index also added 0.11 percent. Australia’s ASX 200 added 0.6% to touch more than 10-year highs as the sectors mostly advanced. In South Korea, the Kospi declined fractionally, with Hyundai Motor seeing its stock jump more than 1.8%.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 added 0.9 percent to close at 2,933.68 — besting its previous record close of 2,930.75. The Nasdaq ended its trading day stateside up 1.3 percent at 8,120.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, added 145.34 points to close at 26,656.39 and was 1.1 percent from an all-time high.

Oil

Meanwhile, oil prices touched nearly six month highs on Tuesday as they continued their ascent after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Monday that it will not extend sanctions waivers to countries that import Iranian oil.

Crude prices retraced some of those gains in Asian morning trade on Wednesday, with the international benchmark Brent crude futures contract slipping 0.47% to $74.16 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also fell 0.53% to $65.95 per barrel.

Currency

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.613 after rising sharply from levels below 97.5 in the previous session.

The Japanese yen traded at 111.82 against the dollar after seeing lows above 112.0 yesterday. The Australian dollarchanged hands at $0.7093 after seeing highs above $0.712 yesterday.

Equity

Shares in Asia rose in Tuesday morning trade as the U.S. earnings season kicks into high gear.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan added 0.2 percent in early trade . The Topix index also gained 0.35 percent. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.18 percent. Australia’s ASX 200, which was closed on Monday for a holiday, also gained 0.26 percent as almost all sectors advanced.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 48.49 points to close at 26,511.05, while the S&P 500 advanced around 0.1 percent to finish at 2,907.97. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.22 percent to close at 8,015.27.

Oil

Oil prices surged to nearly six-month highs on Monday after the Trump administration announced that all oil buyers would need to cease imports from Iran by early May.

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, settled $2.07 higher at $74.04, rising 2.9 percent for its best closing price since Oct. 31, 2018. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled $1.70 higher at $65.70, surging 2.7 percent to a nearly six-month closing high.

Currency

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.284 after seeing highs around 97.4 yesterday.

The Japanese yen traded at 111.92 against the dollar after seeing highs above 111.8 in the previous trading day. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7130 after slipping from highs beyond $0.714 yesterday.