Asian markets were mostly exuberant on Thursday, after major U.S. indexes had a banner session, hitting record highs overnight, and as forecast-beating China trade data buoyed sentiment.
Down Under, the ASX 200 (^AXJO) climbed 1.21 percent, with its materials sub-index up 1.58 percent and the financials sub-index up 1.72 percent. Australia reported trade balance data for October, with a deficit of 1.541 billion Australian dollars ($1.2 billion), wider than the A$800 million gap forecast.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 (Nihon Keizai Shinbun: .N225) jumped 0.86 percent, slipping from gains more than 1 percent earlier as the yen strengthened. The dollar/yen was trading at 113.31 as of 12:15 pm HK/SIN, compared with levels around 114 yesterday.
Japan's third-quarter economic growth was revised down to 1.3 percent year-on-year, from the preliminary reading of 2.2 percent. A Reuters poll of economists had expected growth to be revised up to 2.4 percent.
Sony (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 6758.T-JP) was up 2.16 percent at 3,268 yen, after the Japanese conglomerate said late on Wednesday that it would release eleven new smartphone games in Japan next year, and introduce companion gadgets.
SoftBank (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 9984.T-JP)'s stock gained 4.98 percent to 7,758 yen, as investors continued to cheer news on Tuesday that SoftBank CEO met up with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and pledged to invest $50 billion in the U.S.
Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi (Korea Stock Exchange: .KS11) was up 1.24 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: .HSI) jumped 0.65 percent.
Hong Kong-listed HSBC (London Stock Exchange: HSBA-GB) was up 0.69 percent at $65.95, easing off a 16-month high at HK$67.25. The stock shot up 6 percent on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded the banking stock to an overweight rating with a target price of HK$64 on Tuesday, citing an improved revenue outlook as a Federal Reserve rate hike would benefit most Hong Kong banks.
The probability of a Fed move in December is at 92.7 percent, according to CME Group 30-Day Fed Fund futures.
China's November dollar-denominated imports grew 6.7 percent, the fastest pace of annualized growth since September 2013, while exports were up 0.1 percent in dollar terms. A Reuters poll of analysts had expected November exports to have fallen 5 percent from the previous year, while imports were forecast to drop 6.2 percent.
The trade data had missed the expected release time by several hours.
Chinese shares were lower, with the Shanghai composite (Shanghai Stock Exchange: .SSEC) down 0.05 percent and the Shenzhen composite (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJSZ) off 0.232 percent.