Asian stock markets rose on Thursday, with the Nikkei 225 index hitting a 20-month high, as optimism grew that the U.S. debt ceiling will be raised. The Nikkei rose 1.54%, supported by a near 6% rise in the shares of Sony Corp (TYO:6758) after the firm said it was considering spinning off and listing its financial services unit. Broader Asian markets also rose, tracking gains in Wall Street after the Biden Administration said that a deal on raising the U.S. debt ceiling could be reached as soon as this week.
China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes rose 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.2%, supported by a 3.2% jump in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (HK:9988) (NYSE:BABA). South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.5%, while the Taiwan Weighted index rose 1.1%. Australia’s ASX 200 index added 0.5%.
The gains in Asian markets were held back by caution over slowing economic growth, particularly in China, but were supported by technology stocks and hopes of a U.S. debt ceiling deal.