Asia-Pacific stocks mixed; private survey shows Chinas services activity growth slowed sharply in January – CNBC

Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 475.57 points to close at 30,687.48 — its best daily performance since November. The S&P 500 rose 1.4% to finish its trading day at 3,826.31 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.6% to close at 13,612.78.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.049 following its rise from levels below 90.8 earlier this week.

The Japanese yen traded at 105.02 per dollar, still weaker than levels below 104 against the greenback seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7612, off levels above $0.762 seen yesterday.

Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.5% to $57.75 per barrel. U.S. crude futures gained 0.46% to $55.01 per barrel.