Tokyo (AFP) – Asian stocks were mixed Friday after better-than-expected Japanese growth and weak Chinese data, while oil slipped back ahead of a US-Russia summit on Ukraine. On Thursday, Wall Street finished little changed as strong wholesale inflation data tempered optimism about the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates. A quarter-point cut is still expected, but a larger half-point rate cut is likely “off the table,” said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management.
Intel surged 7.4 percent following a Bloomberg News report that US President Donald Trump is considering an investment in the beleaguered chip company in exchange for a government stake. Japan’s economy grew 0.3 percent in the three months to June, while output for the previous period was revised upwards, averting a possible technical recession for the world’s number four economy. The expansion came despite tariffs imposed by Trump on Japanese imports, including on cars—a sector accounting for eight percent of Japanese jobs.
In morning trade in Asia, the Nikkei was up almost one percent while Shanghai, Seoul, and Sydney also moved higher. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell for the second straight day after Chinese retail sales and industrial production grew at a slower rate than expected last month. A long-term crisis in the real estate sector and high youth unemployment have been weighing on Chinese consumer sentiment for several years. The situation has worsened with the heightened turmoil sparked by Trump’s trade war.
Oil prices dipped, reversing gains on Thursday ahead of Trump’s Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the Ukraine war. Oil traders are worried, “that if the meeting doesn’t go well, we’ll see stronger sanctions on Russian oil thereby depriving the world of or making it much difficult for this oil to get to the market,” said Stephen Schork of the Schork Group.
– Key figures at around 0230 GMT –
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 43,036.46
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 25,236.62
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,675.05
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1658 from $1.1657 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3543 from $1.3535
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.28 yen from 147.76
Euro/pound: UP at 86.06 pence from 86.05 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $63.84 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $66.76 per barrel
New York – Dow: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 44,911.26 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,177.24 (close)
© 2024 AFP
