Most Asian stock markets gained Friday while Japan edged down following Wall Street’s rally at the end of a turbulent week.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225
NIK, -0.40%
lost 0.4% following two days of gains, as the Bank of Japan released notes from its last meeting, in which it warned of growing risks and weaker inflation. Other government data found unemployment rose in November to 2.5%, from 2.4% in October, and industrial production fell 1.1% from the previous month in November, adding to worries of a slowing economy. Fast Retailing
9983, -1.47%
fell 1%, giving up early gains, and oil company Inpex
1605, +0.39%
slipped about 1%. TDK
6762, +1.72%
rose about 2%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
HSI, +0.09%
gave up early gains and was last up about 0.1%. Property stocks continued to outperform, with Hang Lung Properties
0101, +1.89%
and China Overseas Land & Development
0688, +1.35%
up more than 1% each. Tech manufacturer Sunny Optical
2382, +1.18%
rose nearly 2%, as did oil producer CNOOC
0883, +1.70%
. China Petroleum
0386, -5.09%
slid 5% while AAC
2018, -1.68%
dipped 1.5%.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index
SHCOMP, +0.15%
rose slightly while the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite
399106, +0.01%
was about flat. Citing Thursday’s report of weakened industrial profits and a report that the Trump administration may ban the use of Huawei and ZTE
000063, -2.51%
equipment in the U.S., Stephen Innes, head of Asia Pacific trading at Oanda, raised concerns in a research note. “We all are expecting that growth of the world’s second-largest economy will slow further in the fourth quarter from the decade-low GDP rate of 6.5% in the third quarter,” he wrote. “But potentially more damning is China manufacturers could reduce near-term capital expenditures further cooling the economy. Given the tail risk for China’s economy remains substantial, mainland economic growth could be the most significant risk in 2019.”
South Korea’s Kospi
SEU, +0.67%
added 0.6% as Samsung
005930, +1.05%
rose 1%. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200
XJO, +0.48%
gained 0.4% and benchmarks in New Zealand
NZ50GR, +0.10%
, Taiwan
Y9999, +0.36%
and Singapore
STI, +0.73%
also advanced.
On Thursday, U.S. stocks staged a last-minute turnaround that put the market on track to end the volatile week with a gain. That followed the market’s best day in 10 years. Health care and technology companies, banks and industrial stocks accounted for much of the gains. The Standard & Poor’s 500
SPX, +0.86%
rose 0.9% to 2,488.83 after being down 2.8% at midday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, +1.14%
gained 1.1% to 23,138.82. The Nasdaq composite
COMP, +0.38%
added 0.4% to 6,579.49. The downturn that began in October has intensified this month, erasing all of the market’s 2018 gains and nudging the S&P 500 closer to its worst year since 2008. Stocks are on track for their worst December since 1931.
Improved U.S. sentiment “provided Asia markets with the intraday relief into the end of the week,” said Jingyi Pan of IG in a report. Still, Pan said, “one would likely flinch to call this a bottom yet,” leaving a “mixed picture as we head into the end of the year.”
Profits at major Chinese industrial companies fell in November for the first time in three years amid an economic slowdown and trade tension with Washington. Government data showed profit for companies in steel, construction materials, oil, chemicals and equipment manufacturing declined 1.8 percent from a year earlier, a reverse from October’s 3.6 percent gain.
Benchmark U.S. crude
CLG9, +2.42%
jumped $1.02 to $45.63 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract plunged $1.59 on Thursday to close at $44.61. Brent crude
LCOG9, +1.96%
, used to price international oils, gained $1 to $53.73 per barrel in London. It fell $1.97 the previous session to $52.73.
The dollar
USDJPY, -0.35%
declined to 110.58 yen from Thursday’s 111.01 yen.
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Source : MTV
