On Wednesday, SYDNEY, NSW, Australia-owned stock markets across the Asia Pacific region rallied.
The Nikkei 225 surged by 353.86 points or 1.23 percent to 29,222 in Japan. The Australian All Ordinaries advanced by 19.20 points or 0.26 percent to 7,381. New Zealand's S&P NZX 50 added 5.78 points or 0.05 percent to 11,852. The Kospi Composite rose 17.05 points or 0.67 percent to 2,516 in South Korea. The U.S. dollar was mixed. It was little changed against the euro at 1.0164 around the Sydney close Wednesday. The British pound was up to 1.2095 after the release of economic data showing consumer price inflation reached 10.1 percent in the UK last month, the highest level in forty years.
The Japanese yen weakened sharply to 134.79. The Swiss franc fell to 0.9514.
The Australian dollar fell by half a cent to 0.6977. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand increased official interest rates by 0.50 percent to 3.00 percent, despite the New Zealand dollar falling to 0.6317.
The Dow Jones industrials gained 239.44 points, or 0.71 percent, over the night on Wall Street. The Nasdaq Composite fell 25.50 points or 0.19 percent to 13,102. The Standard and Poor's 500 added 8.06 points or 0.19 percent to 4,305.