© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a face mask, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), stands in front of an electrical panel displaying the Nikkei stock index (above in C) and other countries outside of a runner in a shopping district of Tokyo. Japan, Janu
By Alun John
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian stocks advanced on Friday, heated by the embers of a strong day on Wall Street, which also supported risk-friendly currencies and hurt the yen as a safe haven, although concerns about the Chinese economy limited the earnings.
Oil prices also retested new multi-year highs, a drag on growth in energy importing markets in North Asia, but good news for energy exporting markets in Southeast Asia.
MSCI’s broader Asia-Pacific equity index outside of Japan gained 0.6% and rose 1.08%.
US stocks rallied overnight after data showed a drop in new claims for unemployment benefits, lower-than-expected factory price inflation, and results that beat forecasts for the four largest US consumer banks. USA
The increase was up 1.57%, 1.46% and 1.68%, although analysts said Asia was unlikely to match these increases.
“(US earnings) will boost confidence in pockets, but what we’ve seen in Asian markets recently, especially mainland China and Hong Kong stocks, is that regional concerns have overruled some of the sentiment. more positive coming out of the US markets, “he said. Kyle Rodda, an analyst at IG Markets.
“My feeling is that things will continue to be quite varied and volatile in the Asian markets.”
Chinese blue chips fell shortly after the bell, but held steady for the last time, while Hong Kong stocks came back from a one-day hiatus to open higher before retreating to flat as well.
US stock futures, the, gained 0.15%.
A data dump from China scheduled for Monday is a priority for investors, and the world’s second-largest economy is due to report third-quarter GDP figures, as well as monthly investment and activity figures.
“We expect GDP growth to slow to 4.6% yoy in the third quarter from 5.6% previously, in light of persistent weakness in consumption and services amid repeated COVID outbreaks and fading from the low base of the previous year, “he said Barclays (LON 🙂 analysts on a note.
On Thursday, inflation in China’s factories in September rose to a record on rising commodity prices, but weak demand limited consumer inflation, leaving lawmakers to walk the rope. loose between supporting the economy and rising producer prices.
In currency markets, the dollar rose again to a nearly three-year high against the yen on Friday with one dollar buying 113.89 yen, the most since December 2018.
The, which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies, was marginally lower on the day, at 94.00 and ready for its first weekly decline against major pairs since the beginning of last month, having lost some ground against to the pound sterling and the euro.
The return on the benchmark index was 1.5247%, little changed on the day, following a downward trend this week from Tuesday’s four-month high of 1.631%.
The Aussie took a breather on Friday near its high for the month a day earlier, which CBA analysts said was due to a weak dollar and firm commodity prices.
It gained 0.63% to $ 81.82 a barrel, close to Monday’s seven-year high of $ 82.18. It rose 0.58% to $ 84.50 a barrel, approaching a three-year high reached Monday. [O/R]
It is also testing multi-month highs, trading around $ 57,100 after hitting a five-month high of $ 58,550 on Thursday, with bitcoin bulls talking about the possibility of it breaking above the April all-time high of $ 64,895.22 in the next few years. months.