Asian stocks finished mostly higher on Friday fed by hopes that the Chinese government would ease its Covid curbs and also reverse its Zero Covid strategy. Hang Seng led the gains with a more than 5 percent surge. Japanese benchmarks however dropped as Thursday’s market holiday delayed the Fed-fueled decline.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index rallied 73 points or 2.43 percent to finish at 3,070.80. The day’s trading ranged between 2997.00 and 3,081.59. The Shenzhen Component Index added 347 points or 3.20 percent to close at 11,187.43.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 erased 464 points or 1.68 percent to end trading at 27,199.74. The day’s trading range was between 27,032.02 and 27,389.30.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp was the biggest gainer with an 18 percent uptick. Konica Minolta added 8.9 percent. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Sumitomo Corp gained more than 4 percent.
Z Holdings Corp declined 14 percent. AGC dropped 9.3 percent, closely followed by Nippon Suisan Kaisha which dropped 8.6 percent. Nippon Sheet Glass Co and Yamaha Corp lost more than 5 percent each.
The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange surged 822 points or 5.36 percent from the previous close to finish trading at 16,161.14. The day’s trading range was between a high of 16,510.58 and a low of 15,339.49.
Korean Stock Exchange’s Kospi Index added 19 points or 0.83 percent to close trading at 2,348.43. The day’s trading range was between 2,316.29 and 2,348.43.
Australia’s S&P/ASX200 closed trading at 6,892.50 after adding 35 points or 0.50 percent. The day’s trading was between 6,829.60 and 6,895.00.
Global fintech company Block added 10.9 percent in the day’s trade following upbeat third quarter results. Mining businesses were the big gainers amidst former commodity prices. Coronado Global Resources added 8.6 percent. Allkem, Whitehaven Coal as well as New Hope Corporation, all gained close to 6 percent.
Gold miner Ramelius Resources declined 5.6 percent. Packaged foods business Blackmores shed 3.7 percent whereas financial services business Hub24 lost 3.3 percent. Packaging business Orora and healthcare business Pro Medicus also dropped more than 2 percent.
The NZX 50 of the New Zealand Stock Exchange added 46 points or 0.41 percent to close at 11,230.75. Trading ranged between 11,129.62 and 11,251.27.
Oceania Healthcare that owns and operates retirement villages and care facilities for the elderly is the top gainer with a 2.5 percent overnight rally, closely followed by telecommunications business Spark New Zealand which added 2.2 percent. Logistics businesses Mainfreight as well as Freightways have gained more than 1 percent. Restaurant Brands New Zealand also added more than a percent.
Electronic components maker EROAD plunged close to 4 percent. Property For Industry Limited, a REIT declined more than 2 percent. Real estate businesses Investore Property as well as Stride Property and Genesis Energy, a midstream oil and gas business have all lost more than 1 percent in the day’s trading.
The Wall Street had also closed with losses on Thursday as the Fed dashed hopes of an immediate policy pivot. Nasdaq Composite shed 1.73 percent to close at 10,342.94 whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.46 percent to finish trading at 32,001.25.
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