Asia markets mostly rise after Wall Street gains on rate-cut hopes fueled by weak jobs data

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Thursday, after Wall Street gained on hopes the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates next week following weaker-than-expected jobs data.

Payroll processor ADP reported that private companies cut 32,000 workers in November, compared with 47,000 additions in October, and well below the 40,000 increase expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.

Markets are pricing in an 89% chance of a cut when the Federal Reserve meets on Dec. 9-10, significantly higher than rate-cut bets just a couple of weeks ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.33% to close at 51,028.42, and the Topix index advanced 1.92% to 3,398.21.

Industrials and tech stocks led gains on the Nikkei index. Shares of Japan’s Fanuc skyrocketed more than 12%. The industrial robot maker announced a partnership with Nvidia on Tuesday, which sent shares up 6.51% that day.

Shares of tech-focused investment giant SoftBank rallied for a second straight day. The stock jumped more than 9%.

Japanese chip equipment maker Lasertec rallied for a third consecutive session, rising 6.24%. Renesas Electronics jumped more than 10% after California-based semiconductor company SiTime Corp was reportedly in talks to acquire the Japanese chipmaker’s timing unit. A deal could value the timing business at up to $2 billion, including debt, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.

South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.19% to 4,028.51, while the small-cap Kosdaq declined 0.23% to 929.83.

Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 rose 0.27% to 8,618.4.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.68% to 25,935.9, and the mainland CSI 300 added 0.34% to 4,546.57.

India’s Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex index were flat. The Indian rupee opened at a record low of 90.4 against the greenback, marking the third straight day of reaching an all-time low.

Shares of IndiGo, the country’s biggest airline, fell as much as 3% after it cancelled multiple flights since Monday. IndiGo attributed the disruptions in the past two days to unforeseen issues such as adverse weather conditions and increased congestion, as well as the implementation of updated rostering rules, Reuters reported.

Flight disruptions reportedly continued for a fourth day, as a spokesperson for the airport in Bengaluru said 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled Thursday.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 408.44 points, or 0.86%, to finish at 47,882.90. The S&P 500 traded up 0.30% to end the day at 6,849.72, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.17% to settle at 23,454.09.

Stocks with exposure to the artificial intelligence trade were the biggest drag on U.S. key benchmarks Wednesday stateside, after The Information reported Microsoft was cutting software sales quotas tied to artificial intelligence. 

Other major tech names, including Nvidia and Broadcom, pulled the broad-based S&P 500 lower.

Microsoft refuted the claims in the report, which led the stock to recover slightly in after-hours trading.

— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.