Asia-Pacific markets higher as Topix reaches all-time high

Asia-Pacific markets were mostly up Thursday as Japan’s Topix crossed its all-time high of 2,886.50, previously set in December 1989.

The Topix jumped 0.45%, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.3%. The Nikkei is less than 200 points from its all-time high of 40,888.43.

Japanese companies have delivered the largest wage hikes in three decades this year, according to the nation’s largest labor union.

Monthly pay for union-backed workers will climb 5.1% on average this fiscal year ending March 2025, according to a survey of companies conducted since March by union group Rengo.

Big firms with 300 or more union-backed employees raised wages by 5.19%, while smaller firms increased pay by 4.45%.

Higher wage growth will help the country realize a “virtuous cycle” of rising prices and wages, allowing the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates and normalize its monetary policy.

Investors assessed Hong Kong business activity data released this morning and awaited Australian trade numbers due later in the today.

S&P Global reported that Hong Kong’s composite purchasing managers’ index fell to 48.2 in June, down from 49.2 in the previous month. This represents the second straight month that private sector output fell, with June’s pace of contraction being the fastest in over two years.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.8% in early trading. Mainland China’s CSI 300 was flat.

The onshore Chinese yuan weakened to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in about nine months, dropping to 7.2735 against the greenback.

Meanwhile, Australia’s trade surplus is expected to narrow to 6.3 billion Australian dollars ($4.23 billion) from about AU$ 6.5 billion.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.02%

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.82%, while the Kosdaq was up 0.53%

Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 added 0.51% to close at a record 5,537.02. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.88%, also ending at an all-time high of 18,188.30 as tech giants like Tesla and Nvidia rallied.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.06% to end at 39,308, weighed down by a drop in UnitedHealth.

—CNBC’s Alex Harring and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.