Asian shares follow Wall Street higher amid Trump's pro-business decisions

Stock markets across Asia saw gains on 26 January following a positive overnight session on Wall Street.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei share average was up by 1.6% at 19,355.93 points in the afternoon session after official data showed Japan's producer price index rose 0.4% from the previous month in December.

Investor sentiment in the US was high, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing above the 20,000 mark for the first time after a raft of pro-business executive decisions were signed by President Donald Trump during his first week in office.

The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq share averages also closed at record highs.

"Certainly, we are witnessing the next leg up on the US indices in the first week of President Donald Trump," trading firm IG said in a note.

"The market appears to be looking past feather-ruffling words from the newly-minted president and have been focusing on earnings and infrastructure building plans."

Rest of Asia

Mainland China's Shanghai Composite share average advanced 0.1% to 3,153.77 points after data showed the country's industrial profits rose at the slowest pace in a year in December.

Industrial profits were up 2.3% year-on-year to 844.4 billion yuan (£97bn), considerably slower than the 14.5% increase seen in November.

"Raw materials prices are rising, but producers weren't able to pass it on to consumers, so they're kind of squeezed," Tommy Xie, economist at OCBC Bank in Singapore, told Bloomberg News.

"If the economy continues to stabilise, there's still room for profit growth but the global environment, especially a more protectionist US under Trump, will also pose uncertainty."

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 1.4% to 23,365.01 points.

Thursday marks the last day of trading for Chinese markets ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi benchmark index was trading 1% higher at 2,087.51 points.

Markets in Australia, India and Taiwan are shut for bank holidays.