From Nasdaq:

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher Thursday, following positive cues from Wall Street. The US Fed is expected to cut rates in its March meeting, and data released today will help determine if this occurs. Although Australian stocks closed lower on Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 is gaining on Thursday. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging up between 0.2 to 0.3 percent each in oil stocks, and Australian merchandise trade surplus is A$11.437 billion, higher than A$7.660 billion surplus in October. The Australian dollar is trading at $0.671 Thursday.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan is adding to its gains Thursday, moving above the 35,100 level, following Wall Street’s positive cues. The Nikkei 225 Index is up 668.80 points or 1.94 percent, and SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent. The US dollar is trading in the mid-145 yen-range on Thursday. Hong Kong is up 1.5 percent, while Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia are higher by between 0.4 and 0.5 percent each. New Zealand, China, and Malaysia are down 0.1 percent each.

Crude oil prices dropped to $71.37 a barrel on Wednesday, following data that showed an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories.



Read more: Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher