Asian stocks were seen trading in the green territory on Friday, tracking Wall Street gains seen overnight, boosted by upbeat corporate earnings and data which signaled stronger global economic growth.
The Chinese preliminary Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics came in at 50.4 in October, surpassing analysts’ forecast of 50.2, which indicates expansion.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.45% to open at 15,358.01 points at the time of writing, while Tokyo’s Topix index rose 1.27% to 1,248.02 points. The yen remained weaker against the US Dollar on Friday, trading around 108.20 yen versus 107.10 on Thursday, boosting gains for Japanese exporters.
The Japanese multinational cooperation Komatsu jumped 1.5% to 2,428 yen, while Sharp stock’s advanced by more than 2.2% and Fanuc Corp gained 1% to 18,715 yen. Auto stocks also saw major gains, with Hino Motors rising by more than 2%, Mitsubishi Motors added 1.4% and Isuzu Motors went up 1.3%.
On the downside, Honda Motors opened 0.2% lower, while Japan Airlines Co. slumped 0.6%, following the Ebola case reported.
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Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index eased 0.175 to 23,294.38 points, while the Chinese mainland Shanghai Composite added 0.28% to start at 2,308.88 points at the same time.
Great Wall Motor declined 5.1% after reporting a drop in its third quarter profit by 22% to 1.63 billion yuan. While Construction Bank fell 0.5% in Shanghai and 0.7% in Hong Kong. On the positive side, China CNR Corp added 2% after winning an order from the US.
A report released earlier today showed that new home prices in China dropped in almost all cities except one monitored by the government in September.
The South Korean Kospi index gained 0.41% to 1,939.55 points, while a report released showed that the South Korean economy expanded by 0.9% in the third quarter.
In Sydney, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.55% higher to 5,412.60 points.
Mining stocks were mostly down, with iron ore miners Fortescue Metals down by 2%, BC Iron slid 1% and Atlas shares lost 0.75%
In financial stocks, gains were seen, with Westpac up by 0.8%, National Australia Bank and ANZ gained 0.6% and Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 0.5%.
Stocks in Europe were seen opening lower on the last day of the trading week, with the market focusing on UK’s economic output report for the third –quarter.
The European Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.75% to 3,021.36, while the French CAC 40 index edged 0.79% lower to open at 4,124.68 and Germany’s benchmark DAX 30 declined 0.63% to 8,990.62.
The UK’s benchmark FTSE 100 slid 0.69% to 6,374.80. Analyst are expecting the UK’s gross domestic product figure for the third quarter to show an expansion of 0.7% on a quarterly basis and 3% rise on a yearly basis.
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