Asia-Pacific markets rose Thursday morning as Japan's Topix crossed its all-time high of 2,886.50, previously set in December 1989.
The Topix jumped 0.56% in early morning trading, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.55%.
The Nikkei is less than 150 points from its all-time high of 40,888.43.
Big firms with 300 or more union-backed employees raised wages by 5.19%, while smaller firms increased pay by 4.45%.
Australia's trade surplus is expected to narrow to 6.3 billion Australian dollars ($4.23 billion) from about AU$ 6.5 billion.
Persons:
Topix
Organizations:
Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Nikkei, Bank of Japan
Locations:
Asia, Pacific, Hong Kong