Asian markets traded mostly higher on Thursday, mirroring an advance on Wall Street and as the dollar marked gains against the yen.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 141 points at 12,381 in Tokyo while the Hang Seng advanced 62 points at 22,619.

The greenback rallied close to a seven-month high as investors cheered strong US retail sales data. Retail spending rose by 1.1% in February despite higher taxes, official figures showed. Wednesday's data, along with recent upbeat US jobs data, has lifted the US economic outlook.

Focus also turned to candidates for the Bank of Japan's top three jobs. Japan's lower house of parliament voted on three nominees to lead Japan's central bank with confirmation of the nominees expected on Friday.

Meanwhile in China, the National People's Congress in Beijing confirms Xi Jinping as its new president, as part of the nation's change of power each decade.

Shares on the move on Thursday included Fast Retailing, up 2.5%

Real estate stocks also moved into favour with Mitsubishi Estate rising 5% while Mitsui Fudosan bagged a 5.3% gain in Tokyo.

Elsewhere banking stocks in Hong Kong overshadowed weakness among property stocks.

Henderson Land fell 3.3% as did Sun Hung Kai Properties while financial heavweight HSBC added 0.9%, Hang Seng Bank climbed 2% while Bank of East Asia bulked up 1.5%.

In Australia, data showed the economy added a massive 71,500 jobs in February, the biggest rise in employment in over a decade.



CJ

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