Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Asia closes down but major markets post weekly gains

Markets in Asia finished the final day of the trading week mixed, but major markets in Australia, Japan, South Korea, and China all registered a weekly gain.

The Japanese benchmark index Friday closed down 229.63 points, or 1.42 percent from Thursday, at 15,967.17. The index, however, gained 6.8 percent for the week.

The yen strengthened against the dollar with the dollar-yen pair falling 0.14 percent to 113.07 as of 3.10 p.m. HK/SIN time. Earlier, the pair fell to a session low of 112.69.

Exporters, predictably, closed lower with the likes of Toyota, Nissan, and Sony seeing losses between 2.53 and 2.93 percent. A stronger yen is a negative for exporters as it reduces their overseas profits when converted into local currency.

Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi finished up 7.40 points, or 0.39 percent, at 1,916.24, registering a weekly gain of 4.41 percent.

Hong Kong's finished down 77.58 points, or 0.40 percent, at 19,285.50.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 finished 39.20 points, or 0.79 percent, lower to 4,952.79, dragged by declines of 2.77 and 0.72 percent in the energy and financials sectors, respectively. For the week, the index was up 3.93 percent.

Chinese markets finished mixed with the finishing near flat at 2,861.37, gaining 3.54 percent for the week after returning from a week-long break last week. The Shenzhen composite ended up 9.09 points, or 0.49 percent, at 1,850.51 on Friday.

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