BEIJING – Asian stock markets were mixed on Friday after Wall Street climbed to record highs as investors waited for U.S. job data for an update on how the coronavirus flare-up is affecting the world’s largest economy .
Shanghai and Seoul retreated while Tokyo advanced. Hong Kong and Sydney were little changed.
Wall Street’s S&P 500 benchmark index rose after investors were encouraged on Thursday by a drop in US jobless claims. They looked for Friday’s monthly employment report for an indication of how new disease flare-ups and renewed disease control curbs could affect attitudes and wages.
“The job report will be the main highlight of the week’s end,” amid conflicting market indicators creating “more uncertainty” about whether hiring expectations can be met, IG’s Ye – Jun Rong said in a report.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5% to 3,449.85 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was unchanged at 26,206.75. Chinese stocks have been hit by a spate of antimonopoly and data security campaigns Beijing launched against tech companies.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.3% to 27,819.20 after J -anese labor incomes fell for the first time in four months in June.
The Kospi in Seoul lost 0.3% to 3,265.74 and the ASX-S & P 200 in Sydney remained little changed at 7,513.20.
India’s Sensex opened 0.1% at 54,540.97. New Zealand, Bangkok and Jakarta gave way while Sing -ore advanced.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 4,429.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8% to 35,064.25. The Nasdaq rose 0.8% to 14,895.12.
Technology, retail and consumer stocks rose. Banks rose as bond yields rose, leaving them room to charge more for loans. Healthcare and natural resources stocks fell.
On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that unemployment claims fell by 14,000 last week, raising hopes for a rebound in the labor market. This was followed on Wednesday by a weak report by contract processor ADP, which showed that the private sector was creating jobs more slowly than expected in July.
In the energy markets, the reference value for US crude oil in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 14 cents to USD 69.23 per barrel. The contract increased 94 cents to $ 69.09 on Thursday. Brent crude, the price basis for international oils, rose 16 cents in London to $ 71.45 a barrel. It rose 91 cents in the previous session to $ 71.29.
The dollar rose to 109.82 yen from 109.76 yen on Thursday. The euro fell from $ 1.1836 to $ 1.1826.
Comments are closed.