Asian markets edge higher, with Australia leading gains; Nomura down 4.8%

FAN Editor

Asian shares edged higher on Friday, with Australia leading the advance in the morning after a mixed session on Wall Street which saw technology stocks lag.

The Nikkei 225 advanced 0.25 percent, with the mining sector leading gains in the morning. But the advance was capped as the securities brokerages sector dropped 2.04 percent, with Nomura falling 4.84 percent after it reported net profit in the quarter ending in June fell to 5.2 billion yen ($46.8 million), compared to 56.9 billion yen one year ago.

Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi drifted higher by 0.03 percent while in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 recorded more convincing gains of 0.82 percent in morning trade, with the index led higher by the information technology subindex.

U.S. stocks were mixed overnight, with technology taking a beating after Facebook reported a miss in second-quarter revenue after the market close on Wednesday. Shares of the social media giant dropped 18.96 percent, suffering their worst day ever, on the back of those results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.44 percent, or 112.97 points, to 25,527.07, notching its third consecutive session of gains. Other U.S. indexes finished in negative territory, with the Nasdaq Composite recording its worst day in around a month, falling 1.01 percent to 7,852.19, and the S&P 500 edging down by 0.3 percent to end at 2,837.44.

Over in Europe, stocks rose in the last session, supported by waning concerns over trade after talks between the U.S. and European Union. The pan-European Stoxx 600 advanced 0.87 percent on Thursday.

On the trade front, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday that the U.S. was making progress on North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and hoped to secure a deal in the near future.

Meanwhile, the euro was steady after its overnight stumble when the European Central Bank kept its policy unchanged. The euro traded at $1.1643 at 8:10 a.m. HK/SIN after slipping some 0.7 percent in the previous session.

The fall in the common currency saw the dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of peers, firm to last stand at 94.751 as investors awaited the Friday release of second-quarter U.S. GDP due during U.S. hours.

In individual movers, shares of BHP were up 2.24 percent in Australia after the company announced it will be selling its its U.S. assets for $10.8 billion. BHP said it was expecting a charge of around $2.8 billion post-tax in financial year 2018.

Corporates in the region due to report results include Yahoo Japan, ZTE, Kia Motors and SK Innovation.

Here’s the economic calendar for Friday (all times in HK/SIN):

  • 9:30 a.m.: Australia second-quarter PPI
  • 9:30 a.m.: China June industrial profits

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