Asian stocks were seen trading slightly mixed on the last day of the trading week, while the Federal Reserve (Fed) officials weighed on the interest-rate outlook after a set of US data released overnight.
Amongst the reports released from the world’s biggest economy, was the US initial jobless claims for the week ending October 12. The report showed claims for jobless benefit dropped to a 14-year low, with 264,000 people applying for jobless benefits, compared to the projected 286,000 and down from the previous week’s figure of 287,000.
Meanwhile, the US industrial production rose 1% on a monthly basis in September, compared to the forecasted 0.4% made by analysts, marking the strongest gain in almost two years.
In addition, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index, which measures the manufacturing conditions in Philadelphia district, came in at 20.7 points in October from September’s reading of 22.5 points.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard signaled the Federal Reserve may need to consider postponing the end of the bond-buying program to tackle low inflation. The asset-purchasing program is expected to ease at the end of October after the central bank’s policy meeting.
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In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.10% to trade at 14,753 points during the early trading hours, while Tokyo’s Topix index edged 0.17% lower to 1,193.47 points.
The Japanese yen weakened against the US dollar overnight, trading around 106.34 yen versus 105.78 on Thursday, boosting some of Japan’s exporters’ gains.
Softbank went up 1.3% to 6,868 yen, while Japan Material Co. climbed 7.5% to 4,210 yen, Sony rallied 2.6% and Yamaha gained 1.3%.
On the downside, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 2.2% to 3,846.5 yen, Toyota declined 2.5% to 5,733 and Nissan Motor lost 2.7% to 927.4 yen.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.25% to 22,957.48 points, while the Chinese mainland Shanghai Composite slid 0.13% to 2,353.44 points at the same time.
In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi index receded 0.10% to 1,916.82 points at the time of writing.
In Sydney, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.44% higher at 5,278.00 points boosting banking and energy stocks.
In banking, the nation’s four major banks saw major gains, with ANZ up 1.5%, Westpac jumped 1.8%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac each added just over 1%.
While Drillsearch Energy rallied more than 4%, while Caltex Australia advanced 3% and Horizon Oil gained 3%.
Miners in Australia saw losses, with oil-giants Rio Tinto down 0.5% and Fortescue Metals tumbled 1.6%.
The European Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.10% higher to open at 2,884.50, while in France, the benchmark CAC 40 index went up 0.37% to 3,934.30 and UK’s FTSE 100 benchmark gained 0.29% to 6,23.10.
Germany’s benchmark DAX 30 index jumped 0.56% to open at 8,631.30 on Friday, picking up from previous losses.
A report from the European statistical office Eurostat showed that the euro zone consumer prices rose 0.3% in September on an annual basis, compared to the 0.4% rise seen in the previous month.
Speakers of the European Central Bank (ECB) are expected to give speeches later in the day and expected to comment on the central bank’s new series of measures to tackle inflation in the eurozone.
“The recent weakness in inflation expectations along with the market turmoil of late will have been a likely source of concern. And with global officials increasingly pointing their fingers at Europe’s inadequate policy response as a contributor to market stress, today’s speeches are likely to be carefully monitored for any indications that further measures will be forthcoming,” said analysts from BNP Paribas in their note on Friday.
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