Asian equity markets ended higher on Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street after Congress passed a $4.1 trillion budget resolution and data on jobless claims, factory orders and trade balance pointed to underlying strength in the economy. However, overall gains remained muted ahead of the US September nonfarm payrolls report, due out later in the day. Employment is expected to rise by 90,000 jobs in September after climbing by 156,000 jobs in August. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.4 percent. Japanese shares hit two-year high with a weakening yen on hopes for US tax reform as well as record highs on Wall Street. Hong Kong shares closed at its highest level in nearly 10 years, supported by Chinese automakers and banks. Chinese banks extended gains, still basking in the glow of the central bank’s announcement on Saturday that it is cutting the amount of cash that some banks must hold as reserves for the first time since February 2016 to encourage more lending to struggling smaller companies. Meanwhile, Chinese and South Korean markets were closed for holidays.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | - | - | - |
Hang Seng | 28,458.04 | 78.86 | 0.28 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,905.38 | 3.47 | 0.06 |
KLSE Composite | 1,764.00 | 4.91 | 0.28 |
Nikkei 225 | 20,690.71 | 62.15 | 0.30 |
Straits Times | 3,291.29 | 29.45 | 0.90 |
KOSPI Composite | - | - | - |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,532.81 | 14.54 | 0.14 |