Shares in Asia Pacific were higher on Thursday as Chinese inflation data for June was released.
Mainland Chinese stocks, which have already seen a strong performance so far this week, continued to lead gains among the region's major markets. The Shanghai composite gained 1.39% on the day to about 3,450.59 while the Shenzhen component surged 2.599% to around 13,754.74.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 0.13% higher, as of its final hour of trading, with shares of Chinese tech juggernaut Alibaba soaring 9.59%.
Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.4% to close at 22,529.29 as shares of conglomerate Softbank Group soared 4.52%. The Topix index ended its trading day flat at 1,557.24.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi advanced 0.42% to close at 2,167.90. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 finished its trading day 0.59% higher at 5,955.50.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index gained 0.59%.
"We think that risk appetite still remains really very, very strong at a global level," Ray Farris, chief investment officer for South Asia at Credit Suisse, told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Thursday. "A lot of that has to do with the fact that this extraordinary stimulus ... from central banks and from governments everywhere, remains in place."
"We remain positive on Asia, expecting it to continue to outperform really in many respects, led by China," Farris said.
The moves regionally came following the release of China's June inflation data.The producer price index slipped 3% year-on-year, according to data from China's National Bureau of Statistics. That compared against expectations of a 3.2% decline in a Reuters poll of analysts. Meanwhile, the consumer price index rose 2.5% as compared with a year ago, in line with expectations from a Reuters poll.
The coronavirus pandemic also likely continued weighing on investor sentiment as the number of cases in the U.S. surpassed the 3 million mark, according to Johns Hopkins University. As cases and deaths rise, data compiled by Apple Maps shows driving activity is slowing down across the country, which could be a warning sign for the economic comeback.
Globally, more than 11.88 million people have been infected while at least 545,398 lives have been taken, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 96.277 after declining from levels above 96.8 yesterday.
The Japanese yen traded at 107.22 per dollar after strengthening from levels around 107.7 yesterday. The Australian dollar was at $0.6991 after rising from levels below $0.696 yesterday.
Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.25% at $43.18 per barrel. U.S. crude futures slipped 0.34% to $40.76 per barrel.