Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism released its housing starts data on Thursday. Housing starts in Japan rose 7.8% year-on-year in February, beating expectations for a 2.4% drop, after a 0.2% increase in January. It was the biggest rise since August 2015.

On a yearly basis, housing starts were up to 974,000 in February from 873,000 in January.

Construction orders slid 12.4% year-on-year in February, after a 13.8% drop in January.