Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday, despite slump in Wall Street overnight following Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s dour economic outlook along with lackluster US economic data. Data showed that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to 860,000. Chinese shares ended higher on expectations of fresh supportive measures to boost the virus-ravaged economy, with the Chinese yuan holding on to recent gains against the dollar. Japanese shares ended slightly up amid yen’s weakness after data showing the key inflation gauge in the country went negative again last month. Further, optimism surrounding Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s policies also offered some support.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,338.09 | 67.65 | 2.07 |
Hang Seng | 24,455.41 | 114.56 | 0.47 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,059.22 | 20.82 | 0.41 |
KLSE Composite | 1,506.63 | -6.44 | -0.43 |
Nikkei 225 | 23,360.30 | 40.93 | 0.18 |
Straits Times | 2,497.71 | -3.07 | -0.12 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,412.40 | 6.23 | 0.26 |
Taiwan Weighted | 12,875.62 | 2.88 | 0.02 |
