Asian Stocks Gain

Asian shares gained Thursday as Wall Street and global markets wait for a highly anticipated speech from the U.S. Federal Reserve chair about interest rates at the end of the week, the Associated Press reported.
Benchmarks rose in Japan, Australia, South Korea and China. Trading was temporarily delayed in Hong Kong for a storm.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.6% to finish at 28,479.01. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7% to 7,048.10. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.0% to 2,471.68. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 2.2% to 19,696.67, after trading was delayed earlier because of a storm. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 3,227.19.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 edged up 12.04 points, or 0.3%, to 4,140.77, as traders overall again held off on making big moves. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 59.64, or 0.2%, to 32,969.23, and the Nasdaq composite rose 50.23, or 0.4%, to 12,431.53.
It was the second straight day of modest moves for the market, but they follow some severe swings up and down over the prior weeks.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 38 cents to $95.27 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 61 cents to $101.83.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 136.78 Japanese yen from 137.09 yen. The euro was little changed at nearly $1.00.