Meanwhile, the Euro was down against the British Pound and up against the Japanese Yen, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.01% to hit 0.8324 and EUR/JPY rising 0.04% to hit 102.06.
Asian stock markets ended mostly lower Thursday amid expectations that the European Central Bank's massive lending to euro-zone banks won't solve the region's debt crisis. Investor caution ahead of the year-end continued to affect trading volumes across most of the region.
China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.2% to 2186.30, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.2% to 18,378.23, South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.1% to 1847.49 and Taiwan's Taiex ended flat at 6966.35. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.8% lower at 8395.16, heading into a three-day weekend.
Toyota Motor Corp. fell 0.6% after saying its sales were estimated to fall 6% in 2011, likely costing the company its position as the world's biggest auto maker by sales. Alibaba.com Ltd. fell 0.5% in Hong Kong and Yahoo Japan Corp. added 2.1% in Tokyo, following reports that Yahoo Inc. was in talks to shed most of its ownership in the Asian assets.
Technology shares were in focus after the Nasdaq Composite underperformed other major benchmarks in the U.S. Advantest Corp. lost 4.5% and Renesas Electronics Corp. dropped 0.9% in Tokyo, while Hynix Semiconductor Inc. fell 0.9% in Seoul. Gold miners tracked a loss for gold futures in overnight New York trade. Zijin Mining Group Co. fell 2.3% in Hong Kong and 0.8% in Shanghai.
Asian Shares outlook Rise december 23 2011
Asian stock markets were higher Friday as signs that the U.S. economic recovery is gathering pace lifted investor sentiment following better-than-expected economic data Thursday.
Investors were encouraged by weekly U.S. jobless claims, which fell to their lowest level since mid-April 2008, as well as an index of leading economic indicators, which rose for a seventh consecutive month. However, uncertainty over the outlook for the eurozone remained a key concern as the new year approaches.
"Better U.S. data has helped sentiment," said Stephen Halmarick, Sydney-based head of investment markets research at Colonial First State Global Asset Management. "The (European) debt crisis will clearly remain a key negative for markets early in the new year."
Trade was thin ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend with markets in Japan shut for a holiday, Australian markets scheduled for an early close and many traders already away on holiday.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.9%, South Korea's Kospi Composite jumped 1.0% and New Zealand's NZX-50 added 0.6%.
For the latest updates on the stock market, visit Stock Market Today For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
No comments:
Post a Comment