The Nikkei 225 climbed 2.34%, Kospi added 1.24%, Hang Seng index added 0.76%, the S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.68%, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.8%
Stocks in Asia-Pacific mostly rose in Friday trade, following an overnight bounce for stocks in the US.
Shares in Japan led gains among the region’s major markets. The Nikkei 225 climbed 2.34% in afternoon trade. That followed a more than 2% slump seen on Thursday. The Topix index advanced 2.08%. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.24%.
Mainland Chinese stocks were also higher, with the Shanghai composite adding 1.37% and Shenzhen component rising 1.871%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.76%. Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba plunged nearly 5% in Friday afternoon trade after the firm posted its first operating loss as a public company in its fiscal fourth quarter.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.68%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.8% higher.
Elsewhere, the Straits Times index in Singapore dropped nearly 1.4% in Friday afternoon trade. Those losses came after Singapore said Friday it’s very likely that the air travel bubble with Hong Kong will not begin May 26. The country’s government also announced there will be more Covid-19 restrictions starting this weekend, following a recent rise in local infections.
The Singapore dollar also weakened nearly 0.3% against the greenback, trading at 1.3372 per dollar. Shares of Singapore Airlines slumped 4.82%, while Cathay Pacific’s stock in Hong Kong remained 0.31% higher.
Investors also continued to monitor the pandemic situation in India, with over 4,000 Covid-19 deaths reported for the second straight day on Thursday. The Nifty 50 dropped nearly 0.1% in Friday morning trade.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 433.79 points to finish at 34,021.45 while the S&P 500 added 1.22% to close the trading day at 4,112.50. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.72% to finish at 13,124.99.
