The Asian markets made a mixed closing on Friday, though some of the indices extended their weekly gains, some others closed with cuts of around half a percent. Japanese and Chinese market both suffered profit-taking and took a breather, following the recent strong gains. Although, the Bank of Japan said that an index measuring producer prices in Japan were up 3.2 percent on year in March, standing at 103.0. For the first quarter of 2015, producer prices were up 3.3 percent on year, slowing from 3.5 percent in the previous three months. On the same time, the Chinese labor ministry reported that the urban unemployment rate ticked down to 4.05 percent at the end of March from 4.1 percent at the end of 2014. In other markets, Hang Seng, KLSE Composite and Straits Times moved higher, while the Taiwanese market surged by over a percent.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 4,393.69 | -20.82 | -0.47 |
Hang Seng | 28,060.98 | 233.38 | 0.84 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,435.35 | -0.85 | -0.02 |
KLSE Composite | 1,862.58 | 16.50 | 0.89 |
Nikkei 225 | 20,020.04 | -167.61 | -0.83 |
Straits Times | 3,513.00 | 10.25 | 0.29 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,159.80 | -13.61 | -0.63 |
Taiwan Weighted | 9,913.28 | 115.79 | 1.18 |