MARKETS: A day of growth in Asian stock markets – Japan announced billions of investments in the United States

Asian stock markets were on the rise on Wednesday.

Several Asian stock markets remained closed due to the Chinese New Year holidays. In addition to mainland China, the stock exchanges of Hong Kong and South Korea, for example, were closed on Wednesday.

South Korean markets reopen on Thursday, while trading in Hong Kong resumes on Friday.

Japanese indices were on the rise on Wednesday. The Nikkei was up 1 percent and the broader Topix was up 1.2 percent.

The market’s rise was boosted by news of Japan’s plans to invest up to $36 billion in US oil, gas and critical minerals projects.

This is the first tranche of a total investment commitment of 550 billion dollars, which is related to the trade agreement that the two countries had previously signed.

The most significant of the planned projects is a natural gas plant to be built in the state of Ohio, which is expected to produce 9.2 gigawatts of electricity. President of the United States Donald Trump described the project as “the largest in history”.

Japan is expected to invest up to 33 billion dollars in the project. The facility is managed SB Energywhich is of SoftBank Group subsidiary.

Also Japanese companies Toshiba and Hitachi have expressed their interest in participating in the project.

Prime Minister of Japan Sanae Takaichi comments that the aim of the investments is to build sustainable supply chains in key sectors for economic security, such as critical minerals, energy and artificial intelligence.

Japan’s foreign trade export statistics for January were also published on Wednesday.

Japan’s exports grew by a stronger-than-expected 16.8 percent year-on-year in January, which is the fastest pace since November 2022. Economists had expected the growth to have been 13 percent. The growth spurt was particularly accelerated by sharply increased deliveries to Asia and Western Europe.

Oil prices continued to fall on Wednesday after the negotiations between the United States and Iran in Geneva. According to Bloomberg, Iran said it had reached a “general agreement” with Washington on the terms of a possible deal, while a US official said Iranian negotiators would return to Geneva with a new proposal in two weeks.

At 8:28 a.m. one euro was worth 1.18 dollars, 181.6 yen, 0.87 pounds and 10.6 Swedish kronor. The dollar was 153 yen and the pound was 1.35 dollars.

An upward opening is expected for the United States on Wednesday, based on index futures. An upswing in Europe is also expected.