Asia stocks were mostly higher Australia shares led gains

Asia stocks were mostly higher on Thursday waiting the release of the U.S. unemployment claims report.

Australia  stocks led gains among the region’s major markets, with the S&P/ASX 200 jumping 3.46 percent to close at 5,387.30 as shares of major banks such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac rose more than 3 percent each.

Mainland Chinese stocks edged higher on the day, with the Shanghai composite up 0.37 percent to about 2,825.90 while the Shenzhen composite gained 0.846 percent to around 1,755.37. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 1.35 percent , as of its final hour of trading.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi gained 1.61 percent to close at 1,836.21 as shares of automaker Hyundai Motor soared 7.89 percent while the Kosdaq index gained 1.41 percent to end its trading day at 615.95.

Japan’s Nikkei 225, on the other hand, closed fractionally lower at 19,345.77 while the Topix index finished its trading day 0.6 percent lower at 1,416.98.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose 1.53 percent