Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism released its housing starts data on Thursday. Housing starts in Japan rose 8.4% year-on-year in March, beating expectations for a 1.3% drop, after a 7.8% increase in February. It was the biggest rise since August 2015.

On a yearly basis, housing starts were up to 993,000 in March from 974,000 in February.

Construction orders jumped 19.8% year-on-year in March, after a 12.4% drop in February.