Asian Market Review

Markets are rising all across Asia on Friday as the recent stimulus measures from major central bankers have reassured investors that global economies aren’t going to decelerate excessively. Overnight housing and unemployment data from the U.S. was also better than expected, easing concerns over the global economy further.

In Japan the Nikkei is gaining 0.5%, even though the Yen has strengthened against the USD yesterday and that continues today.  Typically Japanese equities retreat in response to a stronger Yen as it makes multi-national companies less profitable. Shares of Sony are up 1%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 is leading regional gains as it’s up by 0.8% heading into the afternoon. The big four banks are rising in the range of 0.2% to 0.5% today, extending gains made in the previous session. Oil majors are also gaining on concerns that Saudi Arabia will not be able to bring production back online. Woodside Petroleum is up by 0.6%, Oil Search is also up by 0.6%, and Beach Energy has a modest 0.4% gain.

Mainland Chinese shares have opened to modest gains as well. The Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite both have 0.2% gains at the open. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is also trading 0.2% higher at the open, but has seen early gains evaporate several times this week due to protest fears.

In South Korea the Kospi is trading 0.1% higher, while the Taiex in Taiwan has gained 0.3% at the open.

In Southeast Asia Singapore’s Straits Times is 0.2% higher, while Malaysia’s KLCI continues to struggle, opening to a 0.2% loss.