Asian shares were
hobbled on Friday by a downbeat performance on Wall Street though they
remained on track for weekly gains, while oil prices extended a rally on
hopes for output cuts.
Financial
spreadbetters expect European markets to shrug off Asia's gloom, and
see flat to modestly higher openings for Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE, Germany's DAX .GDAXI and France's CAC 40 .FCHI.
"European stocks are still in the sweet spot of basking in the removal of political risk in Europe for the time being, though it is somewhat ironic that we could see a modest decline on the week as investors take stock," said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets in London.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS erased early slight gains and was down 0.2 percent in afternoon trading, shy of nearly two-year highs probed in the previous session but still up 1.5 percent for the week.
Australian shares skidded 0.8 percent, led by financials, while the Shanghai Composite index .SSEC added 0.7 percent as the Chinese central bank's move to inject funds amid liquidity worries offered some solace.
China's banking regulator this week launched emergency risk assessments of lenders' new business practices, sources told Reuters, as Beijing deepens its crackdown on shadow banking.
Earlier in the day, China's central bank injected fresh funds through a medium-term lending facility while keeping a tight rein on short-term funding in what appeared to be a further effort to dampen speculative investment.
Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 ended down 0.4 percent, as investors locked in gains after it came close to the psychologically significant 20,000 milestone this week, above which it hasn't traded since December 2015. It added 2.3 percent for the week.
U.S. stocks fell on Thursday after several large department stores reported worse-than-expected sales drops while Macy's (M.N) released results for a dismal quarter, and political drama in Washington continued to unsettle investors
"European stocks are still in the sweet spot of basking in the removal of political risk in Europe for the time being, though it is somewhat ironic that we could see a modest decline on the week as investors take stock," said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets in London.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS erased early slight gains and was down 0.2 percent in afternoon trading, shy of nearly two-year highs probed in the previous session but still up 1.5 percent for the week.
Australian shares skidded 0.8 percent, led by financials, while the Shanghai Composite index .SSEC added 0.7 percent as the Chinese central bank's move to inject funds amid liquidity worries offered some solace.
China's banking regulator this week launched emergency risk assessments of lenders' new business practices, sources told Reuters, as Beijing deepens its crackdown on shadow banking.
Earlier in the day, China's central bank injected fresh funds through a medium-term lending facility while keeping a tight rein on short-term funding in what appeared to be a further effort to dampen speculative investment.
Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 ended down 0.4 percent, as investors locked in gains after it came close to the psychologically significant 20,000 milestone this week, above which it hasn't traded since December 2015. It added 2.3 percent for the week.
U.S. stocks fell on Thursday after several large department stores reported worse-than-expected sales drops while Macy's (M.N) released results for a dismal quarter, and political drama in Washington continued to unsettle investors
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