SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific edged higher in Thursday morning trade as investors continue to watch China’s Covid situation along with moves in the Japanese yen.

It Nikkei 225Japan’s Topix index rose 0.2% while Japan saw a gain of 0.39%. South Korea KospiBy 0.31%

In Australia, there are S&P/ASX 200Fragmentally increased

The MSCI’s largest index of Asia-Pacific shares, outside Japan, traded unchanged.

As the Chinese mainland struggles with the worst Covid outbreak since 2020, investors will be watching for any signs of support. Strict zero-Covid policy has raised questions about China’s economic outlook.

Wall Street shares were mixed overnight. Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 249.59 points or 0.71% to 35.160.79. It S&P 500 dipped fractionally to 4,459.45 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lagged, dropping 1.22% to around 13,453.07.

The Japanese yenAfter strengthening against the greenback yesterday, it traded at 128.11 dollars.

The Japanese currency is still weaker than the levels of below 126 that were seen last week against the dollar.

It U.S. dollar indexFollowing a drop of around 101,, the metric that tracks the greenback in relation to a basket of peers was recently at 100.355.

It Australian dollarThe exchange rate was $0.7444 which is more than $0.736 that we saw earlier in the week.

Petroleum prices rose in the early hours of Asia trade, in line with international benchmarks Brent crude futuresBarrel price increases from 0.65% up to $107.49 U.S. crude futuresBarrel prices rose by 0.43%, to $102.63