Asian equity markets ended in green on Friday as stronger-than-expected Chinese GDP data and expectations for strong corporate earnings helped investors shrug off concerns about a potential US government shutdown. The US House of Representatives passed a stop-gap funding measure late Thursday to avert a government shutdown. But prospects appear gloomy in the Senate, where Democrats say they have the vote to block the spending bill in a bid to negotiate on budget and immigration deals. Chinese stocks ended at fresh two-year highs on Friday, with the Shanghai index posting its fifth straight week of gains, as banks extended their rally and after the country posted its first acceleration in full-year growth in seven years. Growth for the 2017 full-year picked up to 6.9 percent, the first annual acceleration for the economy since 2010. The annual growth easily beat the government’s 2017 target of around 6.5 percent and quickened from 6.7 percent in 2016, the weakest pace in 26 years. Further, Japanese shares ended higher with financial stocks leading the gains after US yields rose, while GMO Internet soared after an activist fund called on the company to change its governance structure.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,487.86 | 13.11 | 0.38 |
Hang Seng | 32,254.89 | 132.95 | 0.41 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,490.90 | 18.23 | 0.28 |
KLSE Composite | 1,828.83 | 7.23 | 0.40 |
Nikkei 225 | 23,808.06 | 44.69 | 0.19 |
Straits Times | 3,550.36 | 29.05 | 0.82 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,520.26 | 4.45 | 0.18 |
Taiwan Weighted | 11,150.85 | 79.28 | 0.72 |
