China, Aussie stocks gain, Japan shares take a breather

China and Hong Kong markets led a rally in Asia stocks on Thursday, while Australia shares closed near two-year highs.

China’s CSI 300 index jumped 2.34% to close at 3,414.54, extending gains to the second day.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 2.54%, also rising for the second day. Hong Kong is still the worst performing large Asia-Pacific market in 2023, down some 14%.

All major Hang Seng sectors were higher by afternoon trading.

Markets including Australia and Hong Kong resumed trading Wednesday after a Christmas break, both ending higher, while China stocks were buoyed by a rebound in online gaming stocks.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200  index closed 0.70% higher at 7,614.30, at its highest level since late April 2022. The index is set to end the year higher at 7.7%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended down 0.42% at 33,539.62, after closing more than 1% higher in the previous session. The broader Topix index closed down 0.14% at 2,362.02, cooling off after four straight sessions of gains.

Retail sales data from Japan showed a 5.3% growth in November, higher than a Reuters poll forecast of 5%.

South Korea’s Kospi was 1.60% higher closing at 2,655.28, building on gains from the previous session. The small-cap Kosdaq closed 0.79% higher at 866.57.

Overnight, U.S. stocks finished higher Wednesday as traders kept an eye on the S&P 500’s march toward record levels.

The S&P 500 inched up 0.14%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.16%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 111.19 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 37,656.52.

The Dow notched a fresh closing high, while the S&P 500 finished less than 0.5% off of its closing record of 4,796.56 set in January 2022. Along with the Dow and Nasdaq, the S&P is also enjoying an eight-week winning streak — its longest since 2017.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Alex Harring contributed to this report