Asian shares mostly rose in muted trading Friday after Wall Street eked out modest gains amid a tug of war between worries about the worsening pandemic in the present and optimism that a vaccine will rescue the economy in the future.
Asian Shares
- Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.5% in morning trading to 25,507.95.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1% to 6,554.40.
- South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3% to 2,554.11.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained nearly 0.2% to 26,405.20.
- The Shanghai Composite was little changed, inching down less than 0.1% to 3,361.90.
Currency
- In currency trading, the dollar inched down to 103.85 Japanese yen from 103.98 yen.
- The euro cost $1.1877, up from $1.1834.
Oil Prices
- In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude edged up 2 cents to $41.76 a barrel.
- Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2 cents to $44.22 a barrel.
