Shares on major stock market benchmarks in the Asia-Pacific region traded mostly higher on Thursday after China's central lender, the People's Bank of China, decided to slash its cut its one-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points to 3.7%. The bank's five-year prime rate was cut by five basis points.

On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.13% at 6:52 am CET, with the Shenzhen Composite losing 0.62% a minute later. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.14% at the close, and Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.11% as the session ended.

South Korea's Kospi added 0.47% at 7:09 am CET, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng soared 2.65% at the same time. Meanwhile, the dollar stood 0.17% higher against the yen, going for 114.4750.