Asia: Most markets closed for Chinese New Year, but Nikkei hits 15-year high

Stock markets in Asia were quiet on Thursday as most indices were closed for the Chinese Lunar New Year.

However, in Japan, Nikkei 225 was up 0.36% at 18264.79 points, its highest close in 15 years.

Stocks in Tokyo were helped by better-than-expected Japanese export data, which showed a 17% increase in January against expectations of 11.9% growth.

Imports fell 9% due to a weaker yen and lower energy prices, worse than forecasts for a decrease of 4.8%.

Australia's ASX was down 0.19% driven by energy stocks being affected by the fall in oil prices.

Brent crude fell 3.5% to $58.48 per barrel, according to the ICE, after a build in weekly US crude inventories and a possible rise in Saudi output sparked worries about oversupply.

Markets in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea were closed for holidays.

Among companies, Sony gained in Japan after saying it expects operating profit to reach ¥500bn by 2018.

Security software company Trend Micro also advanced after reporting net income of ¥22.6bn, exceeding expectations of ¥21.7bn in profit.

In Australia, internet provider iiNet declined after disappointing half year results and retailer Wesfarmers dropped due to a 4% fall in profits during the first half of the year.