SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific largely rose in Friday trade following gains overnight on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 closing at a new record.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.48%. Mainland Chinese stocks were also in positive territory, with the Shanghai composite fractionally higher while the Shenzhen component hovered above the flatline.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.13% in early trade while the Topix index shed earlier gains to decline fractionally. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.56%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.62%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan traded 0.41% higher.
Some markets in Asia-Pacific, including Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, are set to close early on Friday due to Christmas Eve.
Overnight stateside, major averages rose for a third day on Thursday as investors looked past earlier jitters about the spread of the omicron Covid variant. The S&P 500 rose 0.62% to close at a new record of 4,725.79. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 196.67 points to 35,950.56 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.85% to 15,653.37.
U.S. markets are closed on Friday for the Christmas holiday.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.019 following its slide earlier this week from around 96.6.
The Japanese yen traded at 114.38 per dollar, still weaker than levels below 113.5 seen earlier in the week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7231, having risen from levels below $0.714 earlier this week.
Oil prices slipped in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.29% to $76.63 per barrel.
