Japanese stocks surge higher ahead of the closing stages
It has been mostly one-way traffic for risk trades in Asia Pacific trading, as we see the Nikkei push higher towards the end of the session with gains of over 3% now.
The Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite are also up by 1% on the day with US futures at session highs at the moment, seeing gains of over 1.6%.
Better-than-expected Chinese trade balance data can be said to be among the reasons for the improved risk mood as investors are clinging on to whatever optimism they can ahead of earnings season in Wall Street that is set to begin today.
In turn, this is keeping the aussie and kiwi underpinned ahead of European trading. AUD/USD is up by about 0.7% to 0.6425 while NZD/USD is up by 0.5% to 0.6122.
