Asian markets settled mostly higher on Friday tracking Wall Street’s overnight gains following remarks by the Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic that suggested a measured approach to raise US interest rates further. Moreover, strong economic data from China, Japan and Australia also helped Asian equities to go up. Chinese shares gained with expectations for a steady economic recovery in China after activity in the country's services sector expanded at the fastest pace in six months in February. Hong Kong shares rose after data showed that January retail sales grew 7% from a year earlier. Moreover, Japanese shares jumped after data showed that Japan's services sector activity grew at the fastest pace in eight months in February and core consumer inflation in Japan's capital Tokyo slowed from a 42-year high to 3.3% in February, while Japan's jobless rate fell to 2.4% in January.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,328.39 | 17.74 | 0.53 |
Hang Seng | 20,567.54 | 138.08 | 0.67 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,813.64 | -43.78 | -0.64 |
KLSE Composite | 1,453.55 | -1.94 | -0.13 |
Nikkei 225 | 27,927.47 | 428.60 | 1.53 |
Straits Times | 3,232.02 | -2.88 | -0.09 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,432.07 | 4.22 | 0.17 |
Taiwan Weighted | 15,608.42 | 9.70 | 0.06 |
