Asia report: Shares broadly higher as traders wait on US data, assess BoJ minutes

(Sharecast News) - Asian shares were broadly higher on Thursday despite weaker trade on Wall Street as investors digested minutes from Japanese monetary policy makers and looked ahead to US economic data.



Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.27% to 45,754, China's Shanghai composite rose 0.11% to 3,857, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged ahead 0.05% to 26,525. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.10% to 8,773 and South Korea's KOSPI lost 0.03 to3,471.

In the US, weekly jobless claims and a final reading of second-quarter GDP are scheduled for release later in the day followed by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index - the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure - on Friday. Traders will be looking for any clues on further rate cuts this year.

On the regional economics front, minutes from the July meeting of Bank of Japan board members showed that some called for a resumption of interest rate hikes in the future, even though the board decided unanimously to keep rates on hold.

While some policy makers saw underlying inflation still short of the central bank's 2% target, others saw inflation expectations approaching steadily or already having hit 2%, the minutes revealed.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com