Stocks in Asia-Pacific mostly rose in Friday trade, as investors reacted to the market debut of JD Logistics in Hong Kong.
Shares of JD Logistics opened at 46.05 Hong Kong dollars before surging to more than 18% from their issue price at one point .Much of those gains were later pared, however, with the stock ending the trading day 3.32% above its issue price. Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com slipped 0.7%.
The broader Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed fractionally higher at 29,124.41.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 2.1% to close at 29,149.41 while the Topix index advanced 1.91% to 1,947.44. South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.73% higher to end the trading day at 3,188.73.
Mainland Chinese markets lagged as they closed lower, with the Shanghai composite declining 0.22% to 3,600.78 while the Shenzhen component dipped 0.297% to 14,852.88.
Elsewhere in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.19% to close at 7,179.50 while the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.46%.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 141.59 points to close at 34,464.64. The S&P 500 edged 0.12% higher to 4,200.88 while the Nasdaq Composite ended the trading day stateside little changed at 13,736.28.
The moves on Wall Street came following the release of stronger-than-expected U.S. labor market data. Initial jobless claims fell to 406,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was much lower than the 425,000 initial jobless claims expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Asian Markets Currencies and Oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.009 following an earlier high of 90.161.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.84 per dollar, following its sharp weakening yesterday from levels below 109.2 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7729, still lower than levels above $0.777 seen earlier this week.
Oil prices were mixed in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures slipping slightly to $69.43 per barrel. U.S. crude futures advanced 0.15% to $66.95 per barrel.
