MANILA, Philippines -- MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Thursday after US stocks hit records again following a brief stumble.Markets in mainland China gained more than 1% as they reopened following a weeklong holiday, while U.S.
futures declined.Oil prices fell back after Israel and Hamas agreed Wednesday to pause fighting in Gaza so that the remaining hostages there can be freed in the coming days in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
The acceptance of elements of a plan put forward by the Trump administration represents the biggest breakthrough in months in the devastating two-year-old war and reduced risks in the volatile region.U.S.benchmark crude slid 44 cents to $62.11 per barrel.
Brent crude, the international standard, shed 38 cents to $65.87 per barrel.Gold shed some of its stellar gains but was still at $4,048.20 per ounce as of Thursday morning.Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.3% to 48,369.90 as SoftBank Group surged over 11% amid its further expansion into artificial intelligence.
On Wednesday, SoftBank announced a $5.4 billion deal to acquire the robotics unit of Swiss engineering firm ABB.Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged up less than 0.1% to 26,840.95, while the Shanghai Composite index added 1.2% to 3,931.07 in its first trading session since Oct.1.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2% to 8,965.90 while Taiwan's Taiex rose 1.3%.On Wednesday, Wall Street resumed climbing and the price of gold pushed further past $4,000 per ounce.The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 6,735.72, another record, a day after snapping a seven-day winning streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged less than 0.1% lower to 46,601.78, while the Nasdaq composite rose 1.1% to its own record of 23,043.38.Popular ReadsGovernment shutdown updates: IRS to furlough nearly half its staffOct 8, 4:19 PMCentral witness undermines case against Comey, prosecutors concluded: SourcesOct 8, 10:36 AMSniper opens fire on Dallas ICE facility, killing 1 detainee, wou...