Asian Stock Markets
Asian shares rose on Friday after U.S. equities were buoyed by a rebound in technology stocks, while markets in Seoul were underpinned by optimism as leaders of North and South Korea held their first summit in over a decade.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.8 percent, but still looked set to shed 0.9 percent for the week.
European stocks are expected to open higher, according to financial spreadbetters, with Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE seen opening 5 points up, Germany's DAX .GDAX is expected to gain 57 points while France's CAC FCHI is seen rising 13 points.
South Korea’s KOSPI briefly rose more than 1 percent to a one-month high, helped by hopes that the summit could ease tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme and pave the way for the North and South to end their decades-long conflict.
South Korean equities later pared their gains to 0.8 percent .KS11, while the South Korean won KRW=KFTC rose more than 0.5 percent against the dollar in onshore trade.
Japan's Nikkei share average rose 0.7 percent .N225 and touched a two-month peak at one point, getting a boost as chip-related firms rallied after brisk earnings forecasts from Advantest (6857.T) and Kyocera. (6971.T)
The firmer tone of Asian equities came after each of Wall Street’s major indexes rose 1 percent or more on Thursday, boosted by solid earnings results and a rebound in technology stocks.
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) shares jumped more than 6 percent in after-market trading after the online retailer reported a 43 percent surge in first-quarter revenue.
Facebook (FB.O) surged 9.1 percent on Thursday after posting an impressive earnings beat, which appeared to calm worries about the fallout from its use of consumer data.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield US10YT=RR fell more than 1 basis point in Asia to about 2.975 percent, down from a four-year high of 3.035 percent set earlier in the week.
The U.S. 10-year yield had edged lower on Thursday as buyers emerged in the wake of a sell-off fuelled by worries over growing U.S. debt issuance and rising costs.
The euro languished near a 3-1/2-month low, having taken a hit after the European Central Bank on Thursday struck a dovish tone as it kept interest rates unchanged.
ECB chief Mario Draghi acknowledged evidence of a “pull-back” from exceptional growth readings seen around the turn of the year, although the central bank sought to bolster expectations for a gradual withdrawal of its monetary stimulus.
The euro held steady at $1.2107 EUR=. On Thursday it hit a trough of $1.20965, its lowest level since Jan. 12.
The yen showed little reaction after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy steady as widely expected.
Against the yen, the dollar held steady at 109.28 yen JPY=, having backed off slightly from a 2-1/2-month peak of 109.49 yen struck on Thursday.
Oil prices edged lower on Friday but Brent largely held gains from the previous session amid concerns that Iran may face renewed sanctions, choking off supply.
Global benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 0.4 percent to $74.47 a barrel, after rising 1 percent on Thursday.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.8 percent, but still looked set to shed 0.9 percent for the week.
European stocks are expected to open higher, according to financial spreadbetters, with Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE seen opening 5 points up, Germany's DAX .GDAX is expected to gain 57 points while France's CAC FCHI is seen rising 13 points.
South Korea’s KOSPI briefly rose more than 1 percent to a one-month high, helped by hopes that the summit could ease tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme and pave the way for the North and South to end their decades-long conflict.
South Korean equities later pared their gains to 0.8 percent .KS11, while the South Korean won KRW=KFTC rose more than 0.5 percent against the dollar in onshore trade.
Japan's Nikkei share average rose 0.7 percent .N225 and touched a two-month peak at one point, getting a boost as chip-related firms rallied after brisk earnings forecasts from Advantest (6857.T) and Kyocera. (6971.T)
The firmer tone of Asian equities came after each of Wall Street’s major indexes rose 1 percent or more on Thursday, boosted by solid earnings results and a rebound in technology stocks.
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) shares jumped more than 6 percent in after-market trading after the online retailer reported a 43 percent surge in first-quarter revenue.
Facebook (FB.O) surged 9.1 percent on Thursday after posting an impressive earnings beat, which appeared to calm worries about the fallout from its use of consumer data.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield US10YT=RR fell more than 1 basis point in Asia to about 2.975 percent, down from a four-year high of 3.035 percent set earlier in the week.
The U.S. 10-year yield had edged lower on Thursday as buyers emerged in the wake of a sell-off fuelled by worries over growing U.S. debt issuance and rising costs.
The euro languished near a 3-1/2-month low, having taken a hit after the European Central Bank on Thursday struck a dovish tone as it kept interest rates unchanged.
ECB chief Mario Draghi acknowledged evidence of a “pull-back” from exceptional growth readings seen around the turn of the year, although the central bank sought to bolster expectations for a gradual withdrawal of its monetary stimulus.
The euro held steady at $1.2107 EUR=. On Thursday it hit a trough of $1.20965, its lowest level since Jan. 12.
The yen showed little reaction after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy steady as widely expected.
Against the yen, the dollar held steady at 109.28 yen JPY=, having backed off slightly from a 2-1/2-month peak of 109.49 yen struck on Thursday.
Oil prices edged lower on Friday but Brent largely held gains from the previous session amid concerns that Iran may face renewed sanctions, choking off supply.
Global benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 0.4 percent to $74.47 a barrel, after rising 1 percent on Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment