Asian equity markets made a mixed closing on Friday amid a deepening rift between the US and Mexico and ahead of US fourth-quarter advance GDP figures later in the day. Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto on Thursday scrapped his trip to Washington after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to move forward on construction of a physical wall between the two countries and repeated his claim for Mexico to foot the bill. Trading volumes were relatively thin amid holidays in China, South Korea and Taiwan for the start of Lunar New Year. Chinese markets are closed through next Thursday. Meanwhile, Japanese shares ended higher on a weaker yen as the Bank of Japan surprised market participants by increasing its buying in five- to 10-year bonds in an attempt to bring down bond yields. Also, Japan's core consumer prices fell at the slowest annual pace in nearly a year in December, bringing some relief to the central bank, which has been struggling with deflationary pressures for quite some time.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | - | - | - |
Hang Seng | 23,360.78 | -13.39 | -0.06 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,312.84 | -4.79 | -0.09 |
KLSE Composite | 1,686.36 | -5.86 | -0.35 |
Nikkei 225 | 19,467.40 | 65.01 | 0.34 |
Straits Times | 3,064.85 | 13.07 | 0.43 |
KOSPI Composite | - | - | - |
Taiwan Weighted | - | - | - |