Asian stocks follow US markets higher, STI bucks trend

A businessman walks past a display showing closing information of Tokyo's Nikkei Stock Average in Tokyo, Japan on Nov 21, 2016 PHOTO: EPA

SINGAPORE - Asian stocks rose on Thursday morning as Japanese shares continued their winning streak and Wall Street extended its rally that pushed major equity gauges to fresh records.

In Singapore,the benchmark Straits Times Index opened 0.32 per cent or 8.95 points down at 2,830.74, and slid further down within half an hour.

Among the most active counters were Singtel, OCBC Bank and ST Engineering.

Japanese equities were poised for a 10th straight gain, as the Topix index increased 0.9 per cent, to the highest level since February, after resuming trade after a holiday Wednesday.

South Korea's Kospi index fell 0.1 per cent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 0.1 per cent while New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index increased 0.4 per cent.

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