The Asian stock markets are looking at a mixed lead on Friday, with positive economic news from Europe and Asia offset by soft data from the United States.
The Asian markets already had a chance to react to much better than expected Chinese trade data.
And in Europe, the European Central Bank decided to leave interest rates unchanged at a record low. ECB President Mario Draghi said economic weakness in the euro area is expected to extend into the new year but said economic activity should gradually recover later in 2013.
But in the United States, the Labor Department reported an increase in initial jobless claims in the week ended January 5.
Profit taking may also cap the upside for the Asian markets.
The major U.S. averages were higher on Thursday as the Dow rose 80.71 points or 0.6 percent to finish at 13,471.22, while the NASDAQ climbed 15.95 points or 0.5 percent to end at 3,121.76 and the S&P 500 advanced 11.10 points or 0.8 percent to close at 1,472.12.
The major European markets were down on Thursday as the DAX of Germany fell 0.20 percent and the CAC 40 of France dropped 0.39 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. eased 0.01 percent and the SMI of Switzerland fell 0.12 percent.
The Asian markets were mostly higher on Thursday as Taiwan climbed 0.94 percent, while South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 0.75 percent, Japan’s Nikkei added 0.70 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.59 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.37 percent, Australia rose 0.31 percent, Singapore’s Straits Times collected 0.18 percent, India’s Sensex eased 0.02 percent, Malaysia shed 0.32 percent, Indonesia plunged 1.04 percent and Thailand plummeted 1.23 percent.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.comMarket Analysis