Asian stock markets largely extended their gains in early Friday trading, as Thursday’s global rebound continued.
Japan’s Nikkei
NIK, +1.33%
was faring the best, up 1.3%, handily pushing back above its 200-day moving average, as the yen hit fresh six-month lows against the dollar
USDJPY, +0.13%
. Gains were being led by defensive names, such as beverage maker Yakult Honsha
2267, +4.37%
, up 4.3%. Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing
9983, +6.05%
surged more than 6% after posting positive earnings. But factory-automation stocks eased, highlighted by Yaskawa Electric
6506, -4.20%
giving up an early 3.7% gain following strong quarterly results to trade 4% lower.
Read: What you need to know about the dollar-yen 6-month low
Hong Kong stocks
HSI, +0.54%
also extended Thursday’s gains, with the benchmark up 0.6% early on. Tech was continuing to rebound, with Sunny Optical
2382, +2.84%
climbing a further 3% and index heavyweight Tencent
0700, +0.74%
advancing 1%. Financials were also higher, with Ping An Insurance
2318, +0.56%
and China Construction Bank
0939, +0.43%
also rising nearly 1%.
One exception was Australia, where early gains for the S&P/ASX 200
XJO, -0.05%
didn’t last as financials then slid 0.7% following their rebound of the past month-plus. The only other benchmark lower was the Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, -0.15%
, down 0.4% after two days of gains topping 2%. Still, the index is about to have its first winning week in two months, snapping its longest skid in 6½ years.
South Korea’s Kospi
SEU, +0.79%
rose, led by tech and automaker stocks. Samsung
005930, +0.99%
was up 1% and Hyundai
005380, +0.41%
was up 0.4%. Markets in Taiwan
Y9999, +0.87%
, Singapore
STI, +0.31%
, Malaysia
FBMKLCI, +0.58%
and New Zealand
NZ50GR, +0.19%
were all logging gains.
Source : MTV