Asian markets saw their best day in weeks, pulled along by a Wall Street rally, though China shares struggled with the threat of more Covid curbs casting a shadow.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.17%, but the index was still set for its biggest weekly gain in about two months with Tokyo, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia all continuing to ride high on upbeat earnings results from US growth stocks.
Japan’s Nikkei index closed at a more than six-week high, led by Wall Street’s overnight gains and shipping firms which rose on their robust earnings.
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The Nikkei share average gained 0.4% to 27,914.66, its highest close since June 9. The index jumped 4.2% this week to mark its biggest weekly gain since March 25. It also rose for a seventh straight session, the longest winning streak since the end of March.
The broader Topix edged up 0.28% to 1,955.97 and posted a 3.35% weekly gain.
The shipping sector jumped 4.75% after three major firms raised their annual profit forecasts.
China stocks edged down, as Covid flare-ups and property-sector risks raised worries about growth prospects in the world’s second-largest economy.
The CSI300 Index fell 0.2% to 4,229.39 by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.06%, or 2.03 points, to 3,269.97.
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.17%, or 34.51 points, to 20,609.14, and the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange dropped 0.38%, or 8.40 points, to 2,185.41.
“A-share sentiment was largely flat in the past week,” Morgan Stanley said in a note. “Investors remain sensitive to Covid developments, especially the cluster outbreaks in Guangxi and Gansu, and continuous fermentation of mortgage delinquency.”
Tech giants listed in Hong Kong rose 0.4% after China’s cybersecurity regulator concluded a probe on Didi Global, removing near-term uncertainty.
Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia Advance
Elsewhere across the region, Singapore stocks, which gained 2.4% this week, hit their highest level since June 10 on Friday. Stocks in Malaysia and Indonesia gained 2.7% and 3.4%, respectively, for the week.
Indian shares climbed 0.4% this week with Mumbai’s signature Nifty 50 index up 0.82%, or 136.35 points, on Friday at 16,741.60.
Globally, stocks were marginally higher, eyeing a sixth day of gains as European markets rose, while weak euro zone business activity data hit the euro and weighed on the bloc’s debt.
The European Central Bank raised interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points to 0% on Thursday, its first hike in 11 years, and ended a policy of negative interest rates that had been in place since 2014.
The MSCI World index, its broadest gauge of equity markets, was last up 0.04% in early European deals, with the Euro STOXX 50 index up 0.2%.
Bitcoin’s Best Week Since October
US stock futures pointed to a lower open after weak overnight earnings from tech company Snap Inc sounded the alarm among investors ahead of earnings from Twitter later on Friday.
S&P 500 futures were last down about 0.4%, with Nasdaq futures down 0.7%.
The US Federal Reserve meets to set interest rates next week and expectations of a 100 bp hike have faded in favour of pricing for a 75 bp move.
Leading cryptocurrency bitcoin was last up 0.2% to $23,176 and on course for its best week since last October.
Across commodities, oil prices were slightly lower, with Brent crude futures and US WTI crude futures both down around 0.1%. Gold was flat at $1717.9 an ounce.
Key figures
Tokyo – Nikkei 225 > UP 0.4% at 27,914.66 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index > UP 0.2% at 20,609.14 (close)
Shanghai – Composite < DOWN 0.06% at 3,269.97 (close)
New York – Dow > UP 0.5% at 32,036.90 (Thursday close)
- Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara
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