Japan, Australia, India, PMI, BOK decision

Asia-Pacific markets opened mostly higher on Thursday, as investors assessed flash business activity data from Australia, Japan and India throughout the trading day.

The Bank of Korea also kept its benchmark interest rate at 3.5%, in line with expectations, but traders will be watching the language used in its press release later to see if there is any policy easing.

This comes after the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its July meeting, where the summary revealed that some participants made the case for easing interest rates at the July meeting instead of September.

However, the “vast majority” of participants at the July 30-31 meeting “note that if data continue to come in as expected, it will likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting,” the summary said.

Japan Nikki 225 The Topix index rose 1.03%, while the broad-based Topix index rose 0.32%. Business in Japan It expanded at a faster pace in August, with the composite PMI rising to 53.0 from 52.5 in July.

The country’s manufacturing sector returned to growth, while the services sector expanded faster.

South Korea Cosby It rose marginally, but small-cap Kosdaq stock fell 0.53%.

Hong Kong Hang Seng Index It rose 0.35%, and the CSI 300 index in mainland China was trading marginally above the flat line.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.25%, following a slowdown in the country. Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index The index rose to 51.4 in August from 49.9 the previous month, hitting a three-month high, supported by a rise in services activity, the Bank of Japan said.

In the US, all three major indices rose after the Federal Reserve meeting minutes, which boosted hopes of an interest rate cut in the near future.

The S&P 500 rose 0.42%, putting the benchmark within 1% of its all-time record close. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.57%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.14%.

— CNBC’s Alex Haring and Samantha Sobin contributed to this report.