Nikada
Change is in the air for Asia-Pacific stocks as Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index leaped 0.86%, closing at 38,487 on Friday. This surge marked its highest levels in 34 years, dashing toward its all-time peak during Japan’s economic bubble in the late 1980s .
Japan’s economic data for December revealed a Tertiary Industry Activity Index growth of 0.7% month-on-month, surpassing the expected 0.2% and the previous -1.4%.
China’s markets were closed in light of the Spring Festival, a significant pause in the trading ecosystem due to the celebration in China, a crucial trade ally to Japan.
Other key Asian indices had a fruitful run, with Hong Kong’s HSI surging 2.43%, India’s SENSEX growing by 0.52%, and Australia’s AS51 advancing 0.69%.
Over in the U.S., market watchers gleefully observed all three major indexes closing higher as traders digested a fresh set of corporate results and a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. retail sales, reviving the possibility of a June rate cut from the Fed.
The optimism carried on to Friday, with U.S. stock futures standing steady after the preceding session’s dual market advances: Dow -0.13%; S&P 500 +0.05%; Nasdaq +0.34%.
Looking ahead, traders are eyeing the U.S. producer inflation data due on Friday to glean further insights into the market’s trajectory.
Currencies: (JPY:USD), (CNY:USD), (AUD:USD), (INR:USD), (HKD:USD), (NZD:USD).
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