Seoul, South Korea(BBN)-Seoul Shares in Asia were up in Thursday on news of a rate cut in South Korea and despite ongoing investor concern in the US over a possible interest rate rise by the US Federal Reserve.
South Korea's benchmark Kospi was up 0.28% at 1,986.47 points after the government announced its surprise interest rate cut, reports BBC.
The Bank of Korea said it had cut its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 1.75%.
It is the first cut in five months.
Analysts said the move was probably driven by a weaker economic outlook and fears over possible deflation, and they predicted further cuts this year.
The bank's move is in line with several other regional economies which have made interest rate cuts in order to boost growth.
ELSEWHERE IN ASIA
The benchmark Nikkei 225 was up 1.10% at 18,928.66, with stocks being given a boost by a weaker yen and investor relief as the International Monetary Fund agreed to put $10bn into Ukraine's struggling economy over the next 12 months.
In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.23% at 23,771.59, while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.92% at 3,321.31.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 1.01% in Sydney's afternoon trade at 5,851.50 points.
Official employment numbers released on Thursday showed 15,600 new jobs had been added to the economy in February, relatively in line with expectations for an addition of about 15,000 jobs.
The latest numbers also showed Australia's unemployment rate had remained steady at 6.3%, down slightly from 6.4% the month before.
Analysts said the figures would be unlikely to move the Reserve Bank of Australia any further towards another interest rate cut.
National Bank of Australia economist David de Garis said the numbers were in line with expectations and showed "something of a bounce back" - though not a very large one.
"The figures are not divergent enough from the consensus to swing the [interest rate] debate one way or the other," he said.
Some good news for the country's exporters came early on Thursday as the Australian dollar hit its lowest level since May 2009, reaching as low as 75.6 US cents.
The currency inched up slightly after the jobs numbers were released before steadying at 76.06 US cents.
A lower currency makes their goods cheaper for consumers to buy overseas.
BBN/SK/AD-12Mar15-10:50am (BST)