Asian markets rose on Friday, driven by a rally in Chinese markets after index publisher MSCI announced it would boost the proportion of mainland shares in its global benchmarks, while strong U.S. economic data helped the dollar higher.
Asian markets
- South Korea’s KOSPI shed 0.25 percent.
- MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up more than 0.3 percent.
- The Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.3 percent due to more weak data weighted on sentiment.
- Japan’s Nikkei 1 percent higher, helped by a weaker yen.
- Australian shares added 0.4 percent.
- Frankfurt’s DAX to open 0.5 percent higher.
- Paris’ CAC is expected to rise 0.3 percent at the open.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.27 percent to 25,916 points.
- The S&P 500 lost 0.28 percent to 2,784.49.
- Nasdaq dropped 0.29 percent to 7,532.53.
“News that President Trump walked out of the meeting with Supreme Leader Kim, because the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement over North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, dashed hopes for an easing in geopolitical tensions,” analysts at ANZ said in a morning note.
South Korea’s financial markets are closed Friday for a public holiday.
Currency Market
- The dollar index which tracks the greenback against major rivals, was up 0.2 percent at 96.302.
- The dollar also rose on the U.S. data, adding 0.4 percent against the yen to 111.80.
Commodities
- U.S. crude added 0.8 percent to $57.67 a barrel.
- Brend crude rose 1 percent to $66.95 per barrel.
- Spot gold fell 0.3 percent on the stronger dollar, to $1,309.35 per ounce.
Bonds
The GDP data lifted yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes. After rising to a high of 2.7222 percent on Friday, the yield eased to 2.7204 percent, still up from a U.S. close of 2.711 percent on Thursday.
