Asian markets settled mostly higher on Friday ahead of US jobs data for clues on the health of the world's largest economy. US Nonfarm payrolls are expected to increase by 250,000 jobs in July after an addition of 372,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.6 percent. Chinese shares surged, led by technology companies, with expectations that the China-Taiwan standoff might increase global chip shortage. Japanese shares gained as investors cheered better-than-expected earnings reports from the likes of Kikkoman Corp and Nippon Steel.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,227.03 | 37.99 | 1.19 |
Hang Seng | 20,201.94 | 27.90 | 0.14 |
Jakarta Composite | 7,084.66 | 27.31 | 0.39 |
KLSE Composite | 1,501.55 | -6.16 | -0.41 |
Nikkei 225 | 28,175.87 | 243.67 | 0.87 |
Straits Times | 3,282.88 | 13.02 | 0.40 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,490.80 | 17.69 | 0.72 |
Taiwan Weighted | 15,036.04 | 333.84 | 2.27 |