Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced it was a bit too early to declare the coronavirus a global health emergency. The death toll in China has now risen to 26, while the number of confirmed cases jumped to 830. Multiple cases of the virus have been confirmed in Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan, while the United States, Taiwan and Singapore have each reported one case. Japanese shares closed higher after the release of macroeconomic data. Japan's inflation accelerated in December but remained well below the 2 percent target, a government report showed. Consumer price inflation increased to 0.8 percent from 0.5 percent a month ago and against forecast of 0.7 percent. While, flash survey results from IHS Markit revealed that Japan's private sector rebounded at the start of 2020, driven by the expansion in services output. The corresponding index rose to 51.1 in January from 48.6 in December. The services PMI advanced to 52.1 from 49.4 a month ago. The factory PMI also climbed in the month but held below 50. Moreover, Hong Kong shares ended slightly higher in a shortened trading session ahead of the Year of the Rat. Meanwhile, markets in China, South Korea and Taiwan were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | - | - | - |
Hang Seng | 27,949.64 | 40.52 | 0.15 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,244.11 | -5.10 | -0.08 |
KLSE Composite | 1,572.81 | -1.63 | -0.10 |
Nikkei 225 | 23,827.18 | 31.74 | 0.13 |
Straits Times | 3,240.02 | 5.46 | 0.17 |
KOSPI Composite | - | - | - |
Taiwan Weighted | - | - | - |
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