Japan's Nikkei 225 gains 1% as Asia-Pacific stocks rise; investors monitor oil prices after surge

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Thursday morning trade, while investors will continue to monitor oil prices after prices surged in recent days.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan jumped 1.12% in early trade while the Topix index climbed 1.27%. South Korea's Kospi also gained 1.01%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.95%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.49% higher.

Looking ahead, a private survey of Chinese services activity in February is set to be out on Thursday, with the Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index expected at 9:45 a.m. HK/SIN.

Investors will continue monitoring movements in the oil market, with crude prices spiking to their highest level in years on Wednesday, amid Russia's escalating war on Ukraine.

OPEC and its allies decided Wednesday to hold production steady despite the recent dramatic rise in oil prices, with international benchmark Brent crude futures rising past $114 per barrel.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 596.40 points to 33,891.35. The S&P 500 gained 1.86% to 4,386.54 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.62% to 13,752.02.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.385 — still higher as compared with levels below 96.6 seen last week.

The Japanese yen traded at 115.49 per dollar, having weakened yesterday from below 115.2 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7292, largely holding on to gains from its climb below $0.72 earlier in the week.