Asia report: Hints of Australian rate cut raises investor hopes

Most Asian markets climbed on Thursday after the governor of Australia’s central bank said a cut in interest rates "might be appropriate at some point", but India made a surprise rate cut.

Comments from the Reserve Bank of Australia's Philip Lowe raised investor hopes that other central banks in the region might follow suit.

The central bank of the Philippines kept its rates intact after a meeting on Thursday, but the Reserve Bank of India issued a surprise cut and changed its stance from "calibrated tightening" to "neutral", in a move that "provides flexibility and the room to address challenges to sustain [the] growth of [the] economy over the coming months," according to new governor Shaktikanta Das.

Meanwhile, concerns over US-China trade relations continue to affect the region, with Japan's markets dropping ahead of Stephen Mnuchin and trade representative Robert Lighthizer's visit to Beijing next week for a new round of talks.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was down by 0.59% at 20,751.28, while the yen was up 0.15% against the US dollar at 109.81.

SoftBank Group soared by over 17% after chief executive Masayoshi Son announced the company's largest ever stock buyback, about $5.46bn worth over the next 11 months, though Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing and internet giant Yahoo Japan pushed the index lower as they fell by 2.70% and 4.89% respectively.

Markets in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong remained closed for Lunar New Year celebrations.

However, the South Korean Kospi remained steady at 2,203.42 as it returned to trading from its own break as industry giant Samsung's drop of 0.32% was counteracted by fellow heavyweight SK Hynix, which rose by 1.05%.

Brent Crude fell by 0.42% to $62.43 and WTI dropped by 0.71% to $55.63.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.10% to 6,092.46, a 3-month high for the index following gains in the financials led by the 'big four' banks, as well as in healthcare and energy sectors.

Meanwhile, Idp Education stormed higher with a 21.16% gain after interim results showed its English Language Testing and Student Placement segments drove revenue growth of 26%, while CYBG rose by 17.87% after it reported a "good start" to the year that exceeded investor expectations.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 jumped 0.66% to 9,133.51 as investors increased their bets on Australia and New Zealand's respective central banks slashing interest rates, increasing the attraction of equities over fixed-income assets such as bonds and term deposits.

Dairy companies Synlait and A2 led the market higher, up 5.4% and 2.6% as prices rose overnight due to stronger demand from Asian markets.

The Australian dollar dropped by 0.04% against the US dollar to AU$1.41, while New Zealand's dollar fell by 0.34% to NZ$1.48.